It is clear in scripture that God has something specific for a man and his labor (Genesis 2:15). From the beginning, God set Adam in the garden. He gave him a task to work and take care of it. It was not to be futile, but rewarding, and honoring. It was a command to rule and reign.
For generations, upon generations men have been called to use their hands to create, build, and harvest. From tilling the soil, to cutting and crafting masterpieces in construction or fine art. The fruit of much of man's labor is the world around us today.
When men came together, it was not just work. They passed down these learned skills of survival and prosperity to their sons, and grandsons and young men around them. A fathering process. Boys learned their father's trade, and through it much more. Masculinity was bestowed. Young men stepped into the paths of those who had gone before them.
But the rise of the industrial revolution, only a few years ago, brought change through factories, cars, and long commutes. Men were pulled out of their homes, and towns. They became knob turners and button pushers away from their family, and land. The result is the world today of fathers far from the home in cubicles and computer screens.
For most of us, the stories of our father's fathers, and their work has been lost or never understood. They were hard men, who knew suffering and hardship, but seemed to offer little else. They were often lacking in emotion and awareness. "Work hard" was their motto, along with "when I was your age..."
At Training Ground, we want to take you into the jobs that for centuries men have took their place in work, and been transformed. We want to bring you into a first hand experience of work and labor that will be demanding, and yet rewarding. It is in this context your masculinity will be exposed, tested, found, and offered as you become a man.
While at Training Ground, you will re-discover this place during the week, from 8-5. You will learn the physical world of work, and be around men. It will require you to step into a man's world, and learn what God might have for you that cannot be found studying in a classroom, or at a computer desk. In essence, you will step into what God gave to man as a curse... "through the sweat of thy brow." (Genesis 3:17)
You will step on the shoulders of the men of ages past, and find your own stories through your hands, and the sweat of your brow. You will talk through your experiences during the week back at the cabin with the program directors, and leaders. Talk about initiation, and God's fathering, and explore your specific experiences on the job, and what God might be speaking to you about.
