OMM’s Inaugural Boundary Waters Wilderness Canoe Trips can be best described with one word: MAGNIFICENT! God truly blessed us beyond measure in revealing the beauty of His Creation, camaraderie, thought-provoking Campfire Talks, and unbelievable fishing!
Both trips unfolded in June 2024, as 36 people totally paddled, fished, prayed, and laughed through 9-day canoeing trips in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on the Minnesota/Canadian border. We conducted two trips with ten young each, for a total of 20 young men having a life-shaping experience. We base camped the first two days in a bunkhouse in Ely, Minnesota, and our focus was on Skills Training and the first two Campfire Talks. The young men learned hands-on skills they would soon need in the wilderness: canoeing, fishing, tent setup, water purification, knot tying, and classes on first aid and bear encounters (they’re rare, and thankfully, we didn’t have one!). The classes continued once we were out in the wilderness, each young man learning to clean a fish and start a fire.
How to describe our days and nights in the wilderness? Incredible sunrises and sunsets proved God’s got one heck of a paintbrush. Daily devotionals at breakfast talked about masculinity, how to pray, and the majesty of the woods and water. Hearty meals were around the campfire, hundreds of stars were glowing overhead at night, and fishing was out of this world! The young men were tough and determined in battling whitecaps, long portages through mud carrying heavy loads, and a billion mosquitoes! They should all take great pride in the way every one of them truly “Manned Up.”
The final night back at the bunkhouse saw them enjoying their first hot shower in a week, pizza, and lots of laughter as many stories were told of the week’s adventures. The final Campfire Talk was full of deep discussion, with terrific input from all the young men. We concluded the adventure by gathering the young men around a campfire, each being presented a knife crafted by three young men who went on an OMM hunt last Fall. We were moved beyond words that they wanted to invest in the young men experiencing Boundary Waters. The knife is both a reminder of all they experienced with OMM in the wilderness and that they are a Warrior For Christ.
Watch lots of great videos from this trip on our YouTube channel!