During COVID lockdowns in 2020 a group of guys would get together around my firepit to have a cigar, no masks allowed. Some great conversations happened as we talked about the struggles that each of us faced.
For a time, we called it Fire & Vice.
Then I heard a podcast about some guys doing something called Cigars and Theology, and all the guys liked it too.
So in August of 2020 we changed it to Cigars & Theology, and we went from 5-6 guys, to 18-20 guys.
We’ve been doing this for 4 years now, and have had some INCREDIBLE conversation. During this time many guys have come to learn the importance of connecting with other guys and learned how important it is not to be a lone wolf.
In the spring of 2021 I gave my testimony in our first Men’s Breakfast after the Covid Closures. Part of my testimony was that there was a Band of Brothers that surrounded me during a very prolonged period of darkness in my life. One of the takeaways that I wanted to communicate was the neccessity for guys to have meaningful and purposeful relationships with other guys, who are going to have your back.
Over the next couple years, around the firepit of Cigars & Theology, many guys expressed they didn’t have even ONE guy they were connected to. So that’s become part of the purpose of C&T, to show guys what purposeful conversations look like, and provide opportunities for guys to connect.
Then, I saw an Ad for a group out of Ohio doing something called Man Camp. I traveled to Ohio to go to it in 2021, for research on if we can do something like that in Arizona. The trip ended up being more about God calling attention to things in my life, and it completely ROCKED me. In the BEST way.
This just added to the “fire” that more men in Arizona (and beyond) needed experience God out in the forest, disconnected from the grind of every day life.
So AZ Man Camp is the next iteration of C&T, allowing more guys to DISCONNECT, GET AWAY, AND RESET.
Now it’s not just one fire pit in my yard, but dozens of firepits spread out through the forest, with dozens of conversations challenging guys to draw closer to God.
AZ Man Camp is run by a group of imperfect guys who have experienced God’s grace, and caught the vision, and now want to allow more guys to do the same.
