Nobody says, "I want to be a bad dad to my kids."
Many men are great providers for their family. Many men protect their wives and children from danger. Lots of men do okay at various roles as a father.
whether it be divorce, addictions, crime, poverty, teenage pregnancy, behavioral disorders, rape, suicide, etc. Over 80% of incarcerated people have a disengaged father.
80% of young adults retain their faith when their father has been their spiritual leader. When a father follows Jesus, 93% of his family will follow. If only the mother, the percentage drops to under 20%. We can see the overwhelming importance of dads leading & modeling well for their families.
Jason Braun & Matt Crittendon talk with Brett about their organization, and how it helps teach and equip dads to be the men God intended them to be to lead their families well and leave lasting legacies.
One of the big words we've heard at Dad Camp over the years that that truly makes it powerful in the lives of the guys is they use the word "intentional" a lot. That word... take it out of the Dad Camp experience and just take it into life. And as a father, we have to be intentional with our approach to being a dad, and ultimately remembering that that time is their ultimate love language, you know? When we have so little time, to give your presence is such a powerful powerful thing for your kids.
What's going on? This is Brett Snodgrass with another episode of The Iron Deep podcast, and I'm super excited about today's episode. I have Jason Braun and Matt Crittendon with Dad Camp. Which I have been a part of the last several years. I'm super excited to have you guys on the show. Thanks for being here.
-Thank you appreciate it. Good to be here, Brett.
-Yes yeah. Really excited for this show. I know I've gotten to sit down with Jason. You know, one of the co-founders of Dad Camp. I've been a part with my own children the last couple of years at Dad Camp here in Midwest Indiana. I've enjoyed what you're doing. I've listened to your podcast called the Dad Nation. I love your vision and the mission. And the vision behind Dad Camp is to reach the heart of every man... to see a world where every family has a great dad. But really, I just want this show to to kind of be about that. To be about your own story. How this kind of got started. So Jason, I really want to start with you. This Dad Camp thing started several years ago, and I want to talk about kind of... was there like a pivotal moment when... that you just kind of like... "Wow! This is where I want to go. This is the vision that I have."? What... I am seeing was in your own journey is your own fatherhood. How did this Dad Camp thing come to be?
-Yeah, the vision is... was nothing like it is. It's like that it's become. For sure. But... I Was A discipleship pastor at a church in Central Indiana, and really quickly, in my journey, in that I just felt this calling and burden to kind of Challenge and... and reignite the heart of a man. To... lead and serve and love his family well. To be a part of the local church. And to just... to get back in the game essentially. Because I just saw the impact that a man had on his family. I saw the impact that a man had on the... on the health of a local church. And saw how men were just disengaged. And so, you know, being that my role was to call men into that, and you know, really call the church into... A discipleship, I just felt like, you know, we got to get our guys back. We got to get our guys back. And so... so many guys aren't interested in having a spiritual conversation. They're not really interested in going to church. But I realized, you know, I never met a man that would look me in the eyes and say "I want to be a bad dad to my kids." No matter where they're at in their faith journey. And so I thought maybe there's a way we can reach a man through his kids, because deep down, we all have this core conviction to be a good dad. No matter if we're, you know, from a man that's sadly maybe in prison to a man that's just maybe... I would be like hey that guy's knocking it out of the park as a dad. Those guys still would say to me, "I want to even be a better dad." And so we thought maybe we can reach... grow the kingdom... by reaching guys through their kids. And so we created this idea called Dad Camp where dads attend weekend experiences with their kids. And it's all about, you know, reconnecting them relationally, but also about reaching the heart of a father in his faith. And then as God does that... that man would go back and Lead his family in a whole... in a whole different way. And so that was the heart of it, and the spirit of it. And it just kind of organically took off. That was in 2006. We didn't have a bigger, you know... a big mission and vision behind it other than the guys that are part of our local community and reaching them. And giving men that maybe were engaged in their faith a place to invite their friends into something. Hey they're not going to come to church with me, but hey they'll come to a weekend with their kids and have some fun, so that's where it started. And it just kind of has gone crazy since then so. But that was the heart of it, and I'm thankful for the journey we're on.
-Yeah I think that's really the unique part of it cuz I've been to some other events. Maybe father daughter types of camps or father son types of camps. And a lot of time it is you know you build that relationship together with your kids which is amazing. You do some really fun activities, and you come out kind of with this stronger bond, but you guys really focus in on the heart of the dad. And I really enjoyed that. So you're not just going in and building relationship with your kid, having a lot of fun and building some memories, but you come out of there with some tools in your tool belt to take home. And in the study of being a better father, and that's what I love about Dad Camp. And your focus really is on the dads where most other event type of activities are focused more on the kids.
- That's exactly right. We try to say all the time like Dad Camp's not a kid focused activity where dads join their kids. We got tons of those. They're great and keep doing them, but Dad Camp is a dad focused Ministry where kids join their dads. And so that's the the little change. And that's where so many guys when they come away from Dad Camp they're like "that's actually what I didn't even expect. You actually poured into me, and now that I can go pour into my family, and that was something I didn't realize was going to happen at Dad Camp, but I'm so thankful that it did."
- Yeah amen. Matt uh you know you've been a part of dad Camp I've actually been to uh a dad camp where you help facilitate and I want to ask you uh you've been a dad you have three children I believe married and uh and your children are different ages too what I've seen you got different seasons of Life some are out some are still in the in your home um I want to ask you about you know what was maybe a a challenging aspect for you as being a dad and how has maybe dad Camp helped transform you as a stronger father in your own home?
- Yeah absolutely. Yeah I've got a daughter who just uh turned 24. I've got a son who's 19, and then I've got a son who's 12. So I have those different stages of parenting going on right now. One of the biggest things that I I I look at is um knowing the hearts of my children that's a challenge early on Jason and I kind of joke like our our first children firstborn children get the worst of us and then we start figuring it out and by the time we get to the second third or multiple kids we're doing a lot better as a dad um but early on it was sort of this catchall approach you know thinking of fatherhood as parent parenting each of my children the exact same way the same consequences the same discipline the same messaging uh the same communication interaction and one of the things that I learned from Dad camp and now incorporated into dad Camp is each of my children is a very unique individual created by God very differently and even though they might share the same experiences in our environment in the home uh growing up in a Christian home teaching communication with them Etc they have different personalities they different interests and I have to be able to connect with them in different ways to parent them well and so the lazy approach what I would say is sort of a catchall with each child you do the same thing with each child and this is my Target and if I do these things they're all going to be okay but what I found uh through dad camp and now incorporating to Dad Camp is I have to really take time and I have to study my children I have to see where are their passions what sparks interest in them what what could crush them uh where are their weaknesses how can I really engage with them in conversations where it's not just hey how is your day but what's the biggest challenge you face today what's the hardest relationship thing you're going through right now what do you fear most in your life right now what excites you most questions that really help me to tap into what's going on in their heart and then as God's called me as their dad I can Steward that heart well if I'm willing to take the time and energy to really get to know what's going on with them man I love that uh and I love what you said about just kind of the lazy approach yeah this is maybe how I grew up this is how we did it this is I read some books and everybody kind of fits in these box my kids fits in these box we discipline the same way we love them the same way and typically it's how we like to be loved right so that's what we give to them uh and just studying your children and uh Jason I want to kind of pivot to you and like your experience uh cuz one of the things that Dad Camp does so well not only just focuses on the heart of the dad but also forges more of this emotional connection with your children maybe you do some of that at the actual activity but you come away again with these tools to help build these deeper connections uh with your children so can you give um maybe some ways that you have effectively build deeper connections with your own children especially like in this modern day culture with it you know everyone going so fast and running around with like chickens with their head cut off well I am certainly no expert at this thing called being a dad and that was you know I feel like um I've got the privilege of yeah I I'm a co-founder of the ministry but I think I've learned more than anyone because you know just having to as I've encouraged dads I've had to I've had to figure this out myself but um you know I I think one of the big words we've heard at dad Camp over the years that that truly makes it uh powerful uh in the lives of the guys is they they use the word intentional a lot that Dad Camp is such an intentional experience it's not you know there it's structured but it's there's Freedom within it but it's super intentional and I think that word take it out of the dad Camp experience and just take it into life and as a father we have to be intentional with um with our approach to being a dad and if we're not um we we all know we're busy you know we're we've got careers we've got interests we've got things going on and if so if we're not intentional and have a plan uh man we're g to miss out we're going to miss out opportunities and so you know I would say you know being intentional with your time each and every day like what is my plan each and every day to make a connection with my kid uh whether that's you know one day I'm gonna I'm going to send a you know if you have kids that are old enough and have phones it's a like a text of encouragement or hey I'm you how I'm here's how I'm praying for you today maybe it's you know you know intentional prayer time with your kids maybe it's intentional uh bedtime uh discipline or approaches where you're like I'm gonna every night you know there's not going to be a day that goes by that I don't go into those my kids' room and remind them how much they matter and how much you know I love them or you know uh there's this word that Matt and I use now that we learn from someone uh it's called relation trips and like you know thinking of ways each and every year to take your your sons and your daughters on a relation trip where you're like Hey we're gonna I'm gonna carve out some time like Dad Camp can be one of those but but I'm gonna carve out and experience an adventure for us to go together and it's going to allow me to connect to get us away from you know our day-to-day lives and just focus on one another but but create a memory together and and and just and just have fun together and allow us to have conversation we would have we would not normally have uh I think a lot of that is just based through like intentional ways that you can connect with your kids and ultimately remembering that that time is their ultimate love language and that um you know when we have so little time to give that t spells love like nothing else to your kids your your presence is such a powerful powerful um thing for your kids and so um that's kind of what I would say that's kind of you know what I would what I would courage as far as you know things I've done I didn't do these things well I could done that a lot better um but things that I I really tried to think about As I Grew as a dad I love that um yeah just that that presence and that intentionality and just setting up again your plan um if you failed a plan you know I'm going to butcher that but uh you if you fail to plan you plan to fail basically so fail yeah just you kind having that intentionality that plan do have to be these big things either right sometimes I even get into that trap of the the big things you know the dad things and I was talking to a guy the other day and he's like you know I'm really good at the big things I'm really good at the the big trips or th those big things but sometimes it's a day-to-day things that I want just to be consistent at going into the room every single night telling them how much they matter to you or those little messages and then Matt said studying their children of how they want to be loved right and maybe that can give you some insights on how to be intentional with that particular child Matt um one of the things that I remember at dad camp and this kind of sticks with me uh that just say yes to your kids and that's just that's just something that I've I remember you guys talked about that at dad Camp talk to us about this saying yes to your kids why is that so impactful because out of all you guys said a lot of different things but I come away and that's like when I think of dad Camp I think of that saying yes to my kids what does that mean to to you and and how's that impacted just you in your own family or even other dads yeah that's really cool that that stood out to you sort of something that we say there at the beginning uh we just feel like a lot of times we're telling our kids no um and I I I felt that in as a dad like um no no you can't do that hey Dad can I do this NOP you can't do that can we do this nope can't do that can I have this nope we can't do that and um we just don't want that always to be the messaging to our children sometimes it's appropriate to say no but are we intentionally making space to say yes to things and we just feel like Dad Camp is a great environment where you can go into that weekend experience and say you know what I'm going to do my best to say yes to as much as possible to my son or daughter this weekend can we go kick the ball around yes hey can we go shoot hoops yes can we go fish yes can I stay up till midnight yes can I eat this bag of Skittles yes so things that you might say no in other environments carve out that weekend to say I'm going to say yes I'm going to be uh positive and affirmative to my child and um my sons Lov that my youngest loves that he knows that when he gets dad for the dad Camp weekend that dad's pretty much going to say yes to anything that is not a Salvation or a life or death issue and so we think that can give your child a little bit of a different perspective on Dad and really carve out uh 48 hours to really have fun with Dad and say dad's going to say yes and before for everything this weekend m amen I love that and there are a lot of Skittles eating at dad Camp so I hav seen that that's right that's right um Jason obviously this is a faith-based organization Christian organization a dad Camp as a as a father myself this podcast is a Christian podcast I talk to men about Christ I you know I love the poor into men some of the most difficult Mission field for me is my children is is my family um can you just talk about the Christian dads out there we want our kids to have a faith to build that relationship with Christ uh but sometimes there's just such this battle this war going on can you talk about that with Dad camper even in your own life about dads and just some different ways that impacting their kids Faith sure I think it's really important for us and I try to remind dads you know I don't try to weigh them down with this um but try to remind them that you know as a father um you carry this responsibility to to pass on your faith unlike anyone else in their life and you know you know the numbers are out there U you know and it's it's kind of Staggering I call it the 80% rule uh there's there's there's other you know date out there that's a little different but it's it's the same big idea and the idea is that um it if you don't you know model and show your children what a what a faith in Christ looks like it it really doesn't matter um how strong your church is in this like if you say you know what I just get them to church and they'll they'll disciple my kids or you know my wife's got this you know she's awesome she's she'll handle it um and I'm sure you know I'm sure our wives are um but the fact of the matter is that if we don't show our kids or value a faith in Christ ourselves that when our kids get older and have the opportunity to choose a faith for themselves that it's very unlikely that if it's not important to us it won't be important to them no matter how strong again our churches and our wives and how much uh there's just something about this the way God created this that that it's it's it's you know a a father 's role to pass on our faith and pass on identity in that and they say that you know if if a if a father is doing this that 80% or more of the time that his children will choose a faith for themselves and if he's not that 80% of the time or you know somewhere in that area that they're going to abandon their faith when it's you know when it's up to them to choose faith for themselves and I don't know I know I'm gonna guess that the majority of your listeners and you know I know our heart Matt and I's heart um is that our kids have a personal relationship with Christ and so to be reminded that it's it's on us not in a negative way but we we carry this this privilege this calling to to show our kids what a faith in Christ looks like not to push it down their throat not to mandate it but to really to model it and I would say that you know um for me this is what I got from my dad uh my dad was a legacy changer for my family my dad did not grow up in a really healthy uh Christian home uh you know my grandparents were Faith people of Faith uh but my grandfather was a was a tough tough guy um and and really that you know that was a struggle for my dad and and my dad um had a transformational shift where he went 180 degree turn right around the time I was born and gave his life to Christ and so I grew up with a dad that was kind of in this Allin like and just showed me what a relationship with God looked like not what a religion looked like not what hey we're going to church every Sunday You're Gonna Go to do this you're gonna do that but it was just this like just this model of man I got this relationship with with God and I saw that in my dad and I wanted that for myself and it's always so then as I've kind of had children and become a dad of like it's like that's what I want to show my kids that this is this this relationship is everything to me and it's everything to me that they have that same relationship uh with God and so um that's kind of the heartbeat of of of us as a Ministry and and as a community of dads um but to remind ourselves that that uh that we carry this calling and and uh and if we're not you know if this isn't we're not intentional about this part of our lives that the likelihood of our kids if if you want your child to have a faith in Christ then um we really have to be leading and modeling uh what that looks like and uh and if we do good good things are going to happen yes amen I love uh and I think you talk about that just intentionally modeling for your kids that that's the that's the best way that's the biggest way sometimes we feel like we have to have this setting uh kids sitting down dad teaching dad devotions dad you know and and really it just comes back to you know how's your relationship with Christ and are you modeling are you living it are you living that out um it's just so so important um Jason talked about Legacy talked about his own family his own dad Matt um I want to talk to you just about Legacy um you know we've heard a little bit the vision of dad camp but uh what's some of the Legacy that that you hope to leave through dad camp or uh you know pouring into so many dads and you're constantly do it right I mean you're you know you you guys uh again Jason I think your kids are out of the house now and kids but you're constantly this is so important to you guys just to keep important to Dad so can you talk about just the impact and the Legacy that that you're hoping to see through dad Camp yeah absolutely um I think all three of us I hear sharing this passion for men right uh when God saved me he really flipped my heart made me a new a new person and gave me this passion for reaching dads I think Dad camp and where Jason and I connected where we see this as the best possible way to impact families and Legacies a lot of resources that we see especially in the American Christian world are poured into women's Ministries and are poured into children and I understand that thought um but as Jason just pointed out the statistics bear that how are we really going to reach a family how are we really going to reach the children it's reached the heart of a dad if I reach the dad I reach his wife and I reach his children and there's a legacy change there and so we think if we can really get men to grasp the importance of this role we firmly believe that fatherhood is the most important role that God created us for like we said we have Ministry opportunities we have business he did create us to be providers for our families all those things are important but if we did all those things and we missed the mark on actually being the strong spiritual leaders of our homes then we've missed it completely and so that's really the story of dad camp we are changing the world literally one dad at a time and that can feel like oh I don't I can't measure that impact I'm not sure what am I doing but every weekend I'm talking to dads at events that are affirming that what we're doing in their lives is changing the Legacy in their family it changed my legacy I didn't have a engaged and present Dad when I was growing up my parents divorced uh when I was three or four years old my dad moved across the country when I was seven and I did not have him in my life and didn't have anyone that filled that father role so I was flailing around trying to figure out how to be a man early on how to grow into a young man and then I took on father Ood with no real example before me other than knowing gosh I don't want to do what my dad did with me and until I knew my heavenly father sort of flailed around in that area as well um have a great relationship with my dad now uh God blessed me would to be able to share the gospel with him and for him to be saved through our relationship and we have an amazing relationship now uh but yeah Dad Camp was a legacy changer for my personal family um and that's our message and we hope that our Legacy is also for men to understand that we firmly believe that the best man that you can be is to surrender your life to the greatest man that ever walked the Earth Jesus Christ amen and if you do that and really have a discipleship of Jesus then you can be the best man the best father the best husband the best brother the best son everything flows from that personal relationship with Christ awesome well thanks for sharing uh your story and uh and your testimony I appreciate that um and you're exactly right so speaking of of Christ I mean one of the the greatest things that I um you know Philippians to when it talks about just Christ's humility I believe that one of the greatest virtues is is to be humble to have humility and that goes along with a little bit of vulnerability so Jason I want to ask you just about the importance of humility and vulnerability with your kids um I I know that's some of the activities at dad Camp men and dads have to to emotionally connect they some some of those things are humility and vulnerability how has that impacted some of the experiences that you've seen or your own
relationships yeah you know I wish I would have learned this uh earlier on as a dad but it's probably when my kids were in high school that um something I read something we started to I started to understand I guess more is just this really understanding to as a dad explaining the why behind the the what you know U and when I started to understand that and and get into these conversations with my kids and it it was really a pivotal time for them when they could start you know really questioning like why Dad are you asking me to do this why are you directing Us in this way they could start to actually understand we could have those conversations but having those conversations created a whole new level of vulnerability where you know I got I got to share with them this is why this is so important to me this is why this is so important to me as as the leader of our of our family and and why I want to direct you in this way this is why I maybe saying no in this situation to you that you know because you know I want to protect you and I have your best interest in mine I'm not against you I'm for you and here's why uh and so um yeah that led to to moments where you know none of none of my kids myself are perfect and we're all going to struggle and make diffic you know make make decisions at times that aren't the best for for us and uh you know there was a time when one of my kids made made one of those poor choices and uh it it it it hurt me on such a level um for them because I hurt for them in the consequences that that they were having to deal with the impact that was going to have on their heart um but it it hurt me in such a way that I felt like I failed them as a dad like that the fact that that choice was made I felt like how did I lead them wrong where did where did I go wrong in such that they would even consider a choice like this that would that would that would you know that would impact them in the way that it and I'll never forget you know laying next to them on the bed their bed one night and just just just saying I'm so sorry and I'm so like I feel like I just failed you and what did I do wrong and you know how much I love you and I'm I'm hurting for you and um that was a that was a raw uh moment for us and it you know what came out of it was you know you know this this particular child reminded me in that moment you did not fail me I made this choice and you know and I you know and you've I've always known you're for me uh I needed to hear that uh in that moment but but the the the the depth of that relationship by by in that moment of vulnerability and just having that with them you know has you know the the depth just went to a whole another level in the future um and thankfully those choices ended immediately and and and and that you know there was still the consequences and the impact of those of that but but thankfully it I think the fact that the the two of us were willing to be real and honest um and understand the impact of those decisions and the fact that I was for them not against them um it it it brought them out of that situation and so um can't encourage you know uh every dad to just be willing to to be real with where you're at to be willing to admit your mistakes because you know you know when our kids see that like you know we're not perfect and we're willing to admit it U what an example uh for them as they're growing and so yeah that's just a couple that's something that came to mind as as you ask me no thanks for sharing and I think it's just it's just what Christ does does with us uh he walks with us through some of these intense moments and uh our kids are going to make mistakes we're not perfect our kids are not perfect and when those moments do Come Those intense type of moments that uh how are you going to respond uh some of those are pivotal moments um and are you going to walk with them are you going to be for them or shame them right I think at the end of the day and uh that's that's so important so um as we just kind of wrap up with a couple of these last questions uh so again uh Matt I'll just kind of on you on this one um anything that you would tell your younger self you have still some kids in the home you have one out I believe uh you learned maybe from your oldest child but anything that you maybe just kind of tell yourself just kind of going back if your kids maybe talk to the dad that their kids are still little right they're you know three five seven years old talk to that Dad right now yeah yeah um yeah I didn't one thing I would tell my younger self is uh submit to the Lord and get saved I didn't I didn't have salvation in my life until about 12 or 13 years ago so uh without that I couldn't be the the best dad I could be but um practically looking back as I said we sort of learn through our children as we go we get better uh but one of the biggest things would be to have an it um Jason talked about intentionality and to unpack that a little bit more it's like um like you said if you don't uh if you fail to plan you plan to fail well if there's no plan and there's no target and there's nothing that I'm actually parenting my children towards it's not just going to organically happen it's one of these things where we have to have a plan so if I went back to my younger self from the day my first one was born I would say think about what your plan is in your parenting for this child's life um I have it now and I've developed that idea through dad camp and for me it looks like like this I want my children to seek God hear from God obey God and share God if they're doing those four things as Disciples of Christ I feel like every other part of their life will fall into place but we talk about that at dad Camp uh the word says that your children are like arrows in a quiver and you're shooting them towards a target one day you're going to let them go did you point them in the right direction so if that's the one thing I could give sort of a nugget of wisdom to dads no matter what age your children are but especially when you're starting out if you can get this oh man you're killing it if you can get this have an it we have a it in our family of what our Target is for our parenting and where we want to aim our children and then that can inform every single decision in your life about your children you go back to that foundational it no I love that I love that that was uh just this last year yeah we you're talking about the the it and just kind of seeking yeah what are what is our Target what are we what are we doing here what do we what's our Direction and and just getting clear on that um Jason any particular memorable story impactful moment you've had several years with Dad Camp I know we talked a about your own family your own experiences maybe you talk about Dad camp in in general um anything come to mind when you think of just the impact or a story that you remember from from a dad or or CH child relationship yeah that's a that's a big question that is big yeah you know because it's uh you know 18 years in and in you know 12 countries now you know what you know a bigger answer to that is just not knowing uh beforehand the message of of the call to fatherhood the reminder that how much you matter um the the challenge to to to this idea that that fatherhood truly is a calling and that you matter the spiritual health and well-being of your children you know the impact that you have is more than anything else that message how it would resonate not just in Central Indiana where we started but we haven't had to adjust that Central core message anywhere we've gone in the world and you know like I said 12 countries now going to be 15 16 by the end of this year that message and how it's received has has just is it's I I just can't even explain it like the the impact that that message has had and the response that we've seen uh to that all over the world um you know and you know as I'm talking this you know even an example real quick of like uh several years ago I had the opportunity we had the opportunity to go serve in a in a state prison and that was a day I'll never forget um and you know these are are are men that you know incarcerated for 5 20 years and and se you know we had we saw we got a chance to reconnect them with their children some of them some of these guys hadn't seen their dads some of these children had seen their dads in in in years some I remember one was 10 years and uh to see just how much again like so these are dads that have kind of fallen off uh but these kids the heart that what's in a child to to to know from than to hear from their father that they're loved that they that they matter that they have value no matter who their dad is that the the weight of a father's voice the power of a father's voice in our life that day is a day I'll never forget when I saw that full circle and then you know that translating into into being in Honduras and we were in a in in an area that was controlled by MS13 one of the most notorious uh violent gangs in the world and we were doing a dad camp with MS-13 gang members and them coming in and being likeyou know what when I leave here yeah I might go do some really bad things to some people but I still love my children and I want what's best for my kids and I'm going to take care of my kids and to hear them receive the same message despite the the environment and the life that they were living um was a another day that I'll I'll never forget I'll never forget those dads pouring a blessing into their children getting on their knees and and and and putting their arms arms around them and reminding them how much they matter and how much you know God loves them despite the fact that these are men that we would say are these are bad guys um and uh but yeah there's just so many you know uh we've got a team coming back right now literally from Uganda where we've we've heard stories of of transformation like you know we've had a couple thousand guests that uh men finding Christ men you know saying not on my watch anymore things are going to change as a dad so yeah I could go on and on and on Brett but uh those are just a couple things that reflexively came to my mind oh wow wow yeah I'm getting kind of chills over here just just think about these these stories and the message is still the same I mean the thing that I just wrote down is just the weight of the father's voice uh it's even when you think that your kids drown out your voice or aren't listening um and you're having this you know relationship uh some issues with your kids but it's still you know the weight of your voice the impact that you have on your family uh it's just it's just it's just amazing so I love that across the whole world and um that's the vision of dad Camp Matt um before we just talk about wrapping up Dad Camp events you know what's going on there last question and this is how important is it for fathers to get into kind of this support um you know that's what iron Deep's about just to encourage to sharpen each other uh how important is that um because even this podcast for me I'm like man like you're reminding me that you know I want I I desire to go in and with my kids and tell them how much they mean to me how much I love them how much I'm proud of them no matter what matter the one thing I remember that you said just came to mind is um that I actually use to this day is like you know I love you because you're my son not anything that you have done it's be it's just because you're my son and that's how God views us right um so anyways that was another uh kind of thing that I remembered but how important is it for this this this group this support system to help to help dads yeah it's it's so important it the community around you is who encourages you uh who challenges you maybe rebukes you uh helps you through tough times we just can't as men we can't exist on an island and we have some messaging that comes to us that um tells us that uh strength is is being this sort of Lone Wolf is what Jason has called it sometimes and that weakness is needing people around you uh but the whole Lone Wolf concept if we know that animal is completely untrue right it's a pack animal and so the strength is in the pack and so this is also a Christian perspective obviously we know that there's our vertical relationship with a father and there's our horizontal relationships with others but as men we need like-minded men around us we want to be around men who want to be stronger fathers who want to really hear from God and and and share God and obey God seek God these are the men that are going to pull us towards this real discipleship in Christ and the wonderful thing about Dad Camp is we come to a dad Camp weekend and I loved when I first experienced this and I've seen it at every dad Camp event um we have this idea kind of as dads that we I call call it posing you know it's measuring each other up am I the strongest guy am I the best at on the basketball court am I the am I the best dad here do I make the most money do I live in the best neighborhood do I take the best vacations you know what does my marriage look like and and always comparing to one another but in the community of dad Camp it's like no we're all on level ground doesn't matter the color of your skin your social economic status even your faith at that time uh what your job is how much you make whatever we're all here with one consuming purpose and that's to become stronger fathers and guess what dad's put that desire in all of our hearts as Jason just alluded to all over the entire Globe it Lally puts us all on level ground no matter where we are on the planet all dads feel like that and so getting in that Community is just a way to be encouraged to encourage others to build our faith to grow stronger um the word says we have an enemy he prows around like a lion looking for those to devour and so we look at animals if you're out on on your own you're much more vulnerable to become prey if you're in a pack you've got people around you right we've got so much scripture on that a triple braided cord stand back to back to back and help one another iron sharpens iron you said that and so the community is really important we just launched something in our dad Camp Community for our Army members who were guys and families who have said Dad Camp is so important that we're going to pour resources into it we're going to pray over it we're going to attend and invite but we have an ambassador type of program where we just launched where the whole purpose is to get guys into groups into Community get connected get engaged do discipleship do life together and we only feel like this will make you guys stronger awesome no I love that I love that well thank you so much for sharing your heart guys today um I really appreciate both you being on the podcast Jason I know uh co-founder of dad Camp um I want you to just to kind of share and wrap this up with the vision how can someone that's listening get involved you know I know there's a lot of dad camps you talked about around the nation even around the world um what do they do you know where do they go yeah um Dad camp.org is where you'll you'll find out you know more information um but ultimately you know we are an events based Ministry and we you know so what we really feel like our lane that God's given us is to create an opportunity in a space for you to be poured into and to do it alongside of your child and uh and so we are you know growing and so I think we're in 14 locations this year across the United States so um if you have a schoolage child there is a dad Camp event for you so you don't have to be just we're not talking about just dads and Sons here we're equally talking about dads and daughters uh and so if you have you know we have Elementary based events we have Middle School based events we have high school school-based events and so um you know check it out um and you know and then we love to just partner uh you like I said we're an events space Ministry and then we like to partner with other organizations that are trying that carry the same mission and vision uh as us but they have other ways of doing that and so you know your podcast you know reaching out to guys through this through this medium so thank you for having us and allowing us to to just encourage you know these guys we have a podcast as well that's just strict about fatherhood so it's just a monthly episode the dad Nation Podcast so that'd be another great tool for you you know just to jump on there and listen every month and be encouraged as a dad um but ultimately you know our lane is in the events uh Lane and so be willing to hey you know what um I'm gonna I'm gonna create this space to go and we look at it this isn't a one-time thing we look at dad Camp as an annual deposit that you put in your life because like Matt said earlier there's not a lot out there for um for dads uh in fact you know even thinking in the podcast world we recently did a uh we were looking at the we were you know in some ranking and there was like of family podcasts around the United States we're looking I was looking at the top 250 parenting and Family podcast and out of 250 I found three that were for fathers the rest were for moms or just general parenting and so there's just not a lot out there for us and so we see Dad Camp as an annual deposit in your that you attend with your kid every year not just hey I did it once I'm good because we change the content every year you're G to every year you come we're going to pour into you in a new a new and fresh way and give you a different experience to have with your child a different way to bless them a different conversation that you can have uh and so um this is that annual deposit knowing there's just not a lot out there for us uh and so that's it and so and just and just be praying for us you know as we're impacting and God's opening doors all around the world um be praying that uh that God would use this this ministry and to just continue to transform the hearts of fathers all over the world amen amen well thank you guys Jason and Matt for for being on the podcast today I appreciate you guys so much love what you're doing uh and I was just again just taken back by just thinking about the Ministries and and not for men and not for dads so I love you know regular guys doing something for the kingdom uh another thing I'll just kind of point out as we wrap up just for me going to these events it's also just a time that I get to spend one-on-one with each child. I have four kids, so I don't get to do that very often. So this is one thing that I can put on my calendar every single year and get to spend that intentional one-on-one time with each child. -So guys, check it out. Also I just want to mention too that there is a registration day and yeah good reminder Brett yep it's March March 16th yep you want to and this the reason that Brett's bringing that up is that uh if you're not ready to roll and register on March 16th at 9:00 am you may not get into uh the event that you hope to attend because it fills up um last year within two hours 80 so plus percent of our spaces were already gone so um you really want to be ready with your friends at 9:00 a.m. on the 16th and have your location picked out and your event picked out and then away you go so yeah good reminder. Yeah so March 16th check it out guys uh this has been awesome thanks again Matt and Jason be on the podcast today that's a wrap. -Thanks for having us. Thanks Brett!
