The 2005 VF intern class with Doug Phillips and boys.

The 2005 class of Vision Forum interns arrived this month. During their five month training program they will be exposed to the ins and outs of operating a Christian business and ministry. They will participate in Vision Forum Ministry events, and receive interdisciplinary study in apologetics, law, history, public speaking and theology, as well as preparation for marriage, manhood and household management. At Vision Forum we recognize the terrible plight of arrogance and dishonor with young men who are ever learning, but incapable of demonstrating a spirit of honor and service to others. Consequently, in the spirit of Titus 2, which emphasizes that young men be doers of the Word, they are required to devote most Saturdays to serving families in the community.

Perhaps the most unusual element of the Vision Forum training is the requirement that the entire intern class of six men study fencing. Under the delightful and expert instruction of Andrei Samorodov, a former Russian fencing champion and Soviet/Russian military officer, the Vision Forum men are learning the disciplines, execution and proper competitive technique of the epee. I am so very thankful for Coach Andrei (founder of the Alamo Fencing Academy) who provides the men with excellent private instruction at an exceptional price.

There are five goals to the Vision Forum fencing program:

1. Mental: Train the men to have fertile, quick, analytical minds which think strategically in conflict situations. (Fencing is largely a mental discipline.)

2. Physical: Cultivate the physical component of the Vision Forum internship’s preparation for life and manhood by exposing the interns to intense work-outs, challenging physical disciplines, and actual combat.

3. Historical: For nearly six-thousand years the predominant weapon of choice for self-defense and warfare has been the sword (in its many incarnations). Numerous practical and spiritual applications can be drawn from understanding the history and application of this weapon.

4. Friendship and Teamwork: Provide the interns with an unusual opportunity to grow in friendship and appreciation one for another as a team of men committed to a common goal, thrown into an environment with which they were completely unfamiliar, who must learn to understand each others strengths and weaknesses.

5. Spiritual: Learn to understand the numerous applications and relevant spiritual analogies to be drawn from fencing, (including the biblical teachings regarding the sword and the life of the Christian) such that their knowledge and experience with fencing can be a tool for practical encouragement and instruction of others.

Coach Samorodov with Joshua, Justice and Faith Evangeline.