An “awesome time” as described by one participant occurred in early May for a group of eighteen sons and eight fathers! From Thursday, May 2, to Saturday, May 4, this group attended the first Father and Son Home Repair Camp.

The camp was held at the International ALERT Academy (IAA) in Big Sandy, Texas. We had a wide age range in attendance, from nine- to twenty-year-old sons. Our camp motto was “Pressing On.” The focus of this camp was to encourage fathers and sons to press on in their home repairs in a timely manner.

For this particular camp, we selected Proverbs 24:30–34 as our Scripture focus: “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of thy hands to sleep: So shall the poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.” 

Each morning and evening we had excellent Bible devotions led by the camp leaders. The main camp instructors went above and beyond in their class sessions—and even built a mock wall for their presentations!

The fathers and sons learned, both through instruction and hands-on application, some basic home repair skills. These skill-building sessions included basic caulking, as well as masking and caulking for painting. After the classroom instruction, the fathers and sons practiced caulking provided baseboards, as well as masking them for painting.

Another home repair skill taught that weekend was electric receptacle replacement. In learning this skill, fathers and sons were given outlets to take apart and put back together again. An extra pre-planned challenge presented itself: a few of the outlets had electrical errors which the young men and their fathers needed to catch!

A related workshop was how to replace electrical switches and light fixtures. The mock wall the instructor had built and presented was used in the electrical instruction class. The camp participants learned about three-way switches, electrical circuits, and the process involved to replace light fixtures and fans.

A mock wall was also used when the fellows were learning drywall repair. First, however, the group enjoyed some unusual physical activity as the instructor allowed the sons to damage the sheetrock by throwing rocks into the wall! Then, once the damage was done, the fathers and sons were busy practicing repairing the damaged sheetrock.

Other classes and hands-on training included how to rescreen windows, plumbing skills and tools, toilet repair, and how to use a Volt-Ohm Multimeter (VOM), which is a multi-purpose electrical testing instrument.

On Saturday, a question-and-answer panel with the instructors gave participants the opportunity to ask more questions regarding home repairs. On Thursday and Friday, the fathers and sons had bonfire nights where they roasted marshmallows and talked about their day’s discoveries. Saturday afternoon was available as free time for the camp participants. Activities included fishing, canoeing, and playing in the sports complex. 

We are grateful for the agencies who contributed to the success of this Home Repair camp. We enjoyed delicious meals at the IAA’s cafeteria. Lowe’s generously provided deeply discounted tools and other supplies, including caulk guns and multimeters for each family represented. We all signed a thank you banner for Lowe’s. Altogether, we had a fabulous time and the participants learned valuable skills to employ in their homes and for their families. We look forward to offering more home repair camps in the future!