Great Thoughts on Life

The Paradoxical Commandments

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway.
Jesus Did It Anyway

The Paradoxical Commandments for Christians
Kent M. Keith
Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons

Eight reasons why the church must be involved in solving the orphan problem.

By Rick Warren at the Christian Orphan Alliance 2012. 

(My notes as I wrote them down quickly).

      1.     The church has the greatest participation; more people attend church in America on one Sunday than all sporting events combined.
2.     The church has the widest distribution; churches are everywhere.  They are often the first building up in a village and are more likely to be the only building or organization in many villages.
3.     The church has the longest track record; for over 2000 years the church has been around, making things happen.
4.     The church has the fastest expansion rate of any organization
5.     The church has the highest motivation; to love God and love others.
6.     The church has the strongest authorization; God’s command to take care of the widows and orphans
7.     The church has the simplest administration; to use your gifts and the talent you have.
8.     The church has the greatest conclusion; we know how it all ends.

Summer Camps here we come!

This summer I’ll be at a new Director’s Training Camp in Lenexa Kansas, then return home to attend a half week of training at the Costa Mesa Camp in CA, then go right into the Huntington Beach CA camp as a volunteer with my daughter Jessica.  That’s 20 days of camp (or travel) in 24 days.   Ya got’a love camp!

It’s not all vacation time.  When you’re the trainer and responsible for the people, the material, and the outcome, it’s work mixed with great times and great people.  Here we go!

Training Creations

As Director of Training, part of my job is to create or provide NEW training materials or methods for all of our existing camps and clubs to use for training every year.  

No matter what job you have, people want good training.  In order to help our volunteer Camp and Club Directors save time and effort, we create things that can be used by all camps and clubs.


This year we rolled out or updated 101 Counselor / Staff Training Manual.  It took a committee of 6 people a year to update the manual and get it ready with new materials and ideas.


We created a box of 100 Ice Breaker Cards to use as a way to "get to know everyone" at training.  The questions are typical ice breaker questions with a sprinkling of "biblical and camp" questions as well.

Finally, we created a "Bag of Values", wristbands for the camps and clubs.  These are the common wristbands you see around these days in our three values colors along with a value printed on each wristband.  Not only can these be used as easy give-a-ways, but we encourage our volunteers to find people living out one of these values at camp or club, and then give away one of their wrist bands to that person as encouragement.

Jessica, Jonathan and I had a great day with about 30 people shooting in the desert.

Child Molester Caught in the Act!

HERO Dale Urquat looked over his fence and saw a man allegedly sexually abusing a child. He helped restrain the man until police came.

We need more heros like Dale Urquat!!!

A Tennessee man has been applauded for thinking quickly and putting himself on the line to help catch a suspected child molester.

Dale Urquat says he looked through his fence and saw a man, identified by police as Robert Bumpus, molesting a girl in his car parked in an alley, according to WAFF.

First, Urquat called two people to help, then he hopped in his car and drove to block Bumpus in the Lawrenceburg alley last Tuesday, WKSR reported.

Bumpus tried to escape, colliding his car with Urquat's vehicle. The suspect got out of the car and tried to run away, but was captured by Urquat. A fight broke out and Bumpus brandished a razor, but Urquat got the blade away from him.

Police charged Bumpus with sexual assault and Urquat plans to testify in court.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/16/dale-urquat-helps-catch-child-molester_n_1429467.html?1334607793&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl5%7Csec3_lnk2%26pLid%3D152489

Reagans take on Easter

"I still can't help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all and which is recorded in history. No one denies there was such a man, that he lived and that he was put to death by crucifixion.

Where ... is the miracle I spoke of? Well consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time -- possibly to your own home town. A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop.

He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister. He never gets farther than an area perhaps 100 miles wide at the most. He does this for three years.

Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb.

End of story? No, this uneducated, property-less young man has, for 2,000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put together. How do we explain that -- unless He really was what He said He was?"

President Ronald Reagan

Hello All,

We just finished our banquet March 8th, with a full day of training on Friday the 9th.

At the banquet we showed a new video called Samantha's Story. It’s very powerful! If you have 5:15 please check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=PmdP3MijY8w

Also, a New Promo video (1:51) at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToLgeBAnwds&feature=relmfu

Thanks for all you do.

Creative Giving Opportunities

When you ask people for money, some people say yes, some say no, and some people get CREATIVE. I have several people, or groups, who have donated money over the years that are creative in their giving. Below is a list of some of those people or groups who have helped make a difference for the kids we work with. I will try to highlight a few of them in my newsletters in the future. I also have a new method of giving through ebay that I’ll mention in the next newsletter.

God’s Garden Group – Bible Study of women who meet and occasionally take an offering. They have been able to bless us with some of the dollars donated through their group.

Contra Costa Electric Golf Tournament - This is my former employer of 15 years, and they hold an annual golf tournament for clients, employees and vendors. Each year they give part of the proceeds to RFK for local campers and for starting new camps.

Just Ask - Renee Conn works for Contra Costa Electric (CCE) and helps with the Golf Tournament each year. She and I have been talking about camp for years, and she has always wanted to help in a significant way. One year while working at the golf tournament, she decided that since only the vendors pay to play in the tournament, she would “just ask” the other non-paying players if they would like to donate to the camp. The first year she collected cash donations of $700.00, and last year she collected over $1,000.00. Renee always had a heart for the camp, but she wasn’t sure how she could help. She got creative, and when her desire to help intersected with her time at the sign-in table, she simply asked and she was able to make a significant difference for the kids we serve. Thanks Renee!

Giving through Wills and Trusts – When Matthew Hart was putting his business plan together, he decided to distinguish his business from others by giving 10% of all fees earned to charity. Matthew has selected two local, two regional, and two National charities. The client chooses one of the charities after the service is provided. Matthew's article is featured in the April 2012 newsletter. www.MatthewHartLaw.com Thanks Matthew!

Losing for the KIDS – Dave Mennens is Project Manager at CCE and occasionally challenges other employees to a bowling tournament. They bet each other about who will win, but instead of the loser paying the winner, Dave said, “we have enough money, how about the loser makes a donation to RFK and help the kids who don’t have enough money”. Now there is some creative giving right there, when people lose, the kids still win. Thanks Dave!

Refi for Charity - Don Mclain recently helped us refinance our home. Don is encouraging his clients that when they save money by refinancing their homes, to take the first month's savings and donate it to a charity. This is a real creative way to donate without really losing any regular income. dmclain@coasthills.net Thanks Don!

Car Donations
Last year, I had two cars donated to charity and we received the proceeds. One came from my brother, Jerry, and another from Pac Integrations Inc, a local business. Thanks to both!

Buzzer Beater - Perfect Season 10-0

Jonathan’s fourth year playing basketball at Fountain Valley rec. resulted in a perfect season 10-0. Jon played well through the season and I caught him on video with a game winning 3 pointer on the last game of the season. Wow, what a game!!!

Here's a link to the buzzer beater three point shot by Jon. The shot is right at the beginning of the clip, Jon's team is in red. The other team then attempts one last shot. I'm the camera man and I got just a little excited. Proud Dad moment!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/65179634/Juhala-Bball-Final-Shot%20copy.mp4

You might have to copy and paste the link into your browser.

KID Facts

Here’s some of our totals for Camp and Club from 2011

Living History

I recently attended a meeting of the Freedom Committee of Orange County, www.fc-oc.org/. This group of Orange County Veterans meet every month to discuss their service years, but their main reason for existing is to bring living history to local schools as speakers of freedom. At the meeting in February, there were 3 members who had served in WW2, Korea a

nd Vietnam, and there were 3 members who were at Pearl Harbor during the

bombing. The 3 Pearl Harbor survivors were all the their nineties, 92, 96 and 97 respectively.

I later got a picture with Jonathan and Jack Hammett, 92, at another event showing a B-17 Bomber at a museum near by. What an honor to be in the room with some true heroes of freedom.