Last year, the Vision Forum Ministries team hosted ten national family conferences and collectively traveled to more than twenty-five regional home-school conferences. Throughout our travels, we preached and taught while in pursuit of a solitary mission: the glorification of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as we face the defining crisis of our generation — the battle to defend, restore, and advance the biblical family. We thank God for the opportunities He gave us to minister this last year, even as we now look toward a big slate of events in the year 2007, including a once-in-a-lifetime event: The Quadricentennial Celebration of the providential founding of America at Jamestown. We must rejoice in providence if we are to persevere as a people. As a staff, Vision Forum Ministries dedicates this year to equipping fathers and mothers in the Lord, celebrating the providences of God to His people, and encouraging the biblical family. We invite you to join us!

2007 Events

America’s 400th Anniversary: A Celebration in Jamestown of America’s Providential History

It will only happen once and in your lifetime — America is celebrating the four hundredth birthday of its founding in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. To commemorate America’s first four hundredth birthday, Vision Forum Ministries is hosting a national celebration the week of June 11-16 to express gratitude to the Lord for the great things He accomplished through Captain John Smith and those who joined him in founding the Jamestown Colony. This week-long celebration will be held on Ft. Pocohantas (part of the ancestral estate of John Tyler who keynoted the 250th anniversary celebration of Jamestown) and will include orations from some of the greatest Christian speakers of our day, thrilling Faith and Freedom mini-history tours, games, boat rides, dramatic presentations, fife and drum music, colonial firearms demonstrations, the exciting culmination of the Jamestown 400 National Treasure Hunt, and much more.

Join families from across America as we gather at this important Ebenezer stone of God’s faithfulness and remember His many providential blessings on our nation. The Jamestown Quadricentennial: A Celebration of America’s Providential History, to be held in the Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown triangle, is an event that will only happen once, so mark your calendars. More details, including registration information, will be posted on our Web site in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned!

As a special gift for you, Vision Forum is pleased to offer to anyone who requests it, a copy of my message, “The Providential Meaning of America’s 400th Anniversary.” This message is helpful for home schoolers, moms and dads, pastors, and anyone with a passion to study the providences of God through the founding of America. Hone your apologetic skills and be able to give an answer for your gratitude to the Lord on a timely issue that will be widely discussed in the year 2007. To receive this free CD, send a written request with your full name and address, or call us at 1-866-440-0022, ext. 280.

Click here to stay tuned for more information about the Jamestown Quadricentennial.

The 2007 Father and Daughter Retreat

This important retreat is designed to address the critical relationship between fathers and daughters. The 2007 Father and Daughter Retreat will be hosted at the beautiful Callaway Gardens®, home of one of America’s finest butterfly conservatories. With special guest speakers Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin, authors of the best-selling book from Vision Forum, So Much More, this special weekend’s events will speak to the heart of the relationship between a father and daughter in today’s society, where so many cultural influences attempt to pull young ladies away from their parents and God-ordained protection. This retreat enables fathers and daughters to draw closer together while building love, trust, and hope for the future and their walk before the Lord.

My husband and daughter were immensely blessed by the event, and I am enjoying the “side effects.”

My heart has been filled to overflowing! ... I’ve witnessed my daddy be encouraged as he soaked up the teaching of godly men and my sister and I have been renewed through the fellowship and the righteous example of like-hearted girls. —Anna C.

The 2007 Father and Daughter Retreat will be held at the beautiful Callaway® Gardens, in Pine Mountain, Georgia on March 30 - April 1, 2007.

Click here for more information about the 2007 Father and Daughter Retreat.

The Christian Boys’ & Men’s Titanic Society Eleventh Anniversary Banquet

For eleven years, the Christian Boys’ and Men’s Titanic Society has been training young men to put women and children first. On April 13, just before the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, we will gather in Washington, D.C. for a gala celebration featuring great food, the manly music of Charlie Zahm, and inspirational messages.

A highlight in recent years for the men of our family has been attending the Christian Boys’ & Men’s Titanic Society Dinner. Three times my three sons and I have driven into D.C. for this auspicious annual event. To be in the company of men as we remember the life-sacrificing heroism of men and boys over ninety years ago is good and sobering for the soul. At each dinner we have been stirred by the historical reality of what took place that awful night in 1912, and yet buoyed to a new level of commitment to live as honorable men in our day. Especially to live sacrificially as Christian men, leading our families with humility and Christian love in a world with its own icebergs dead ahead. —Bernie B.

Click here for more information about the CBMTS Eleventh Anniversary Banquet.

The Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy

Our motto: Before you spend four years and $75,000 to learn Charles Darwin’s philosophy of law, take four days to get the Founding Fathers’! The Witherspoon School is a four-day crash course in biblical principles of law and public policy, especially designed for young men who desire to influence our nation toward righteousness in the civil realm.

I highly recommend the Witherspoon School for any man considering a career in law. This is not simply a seminar of practical advice, though of this it has much; it is a full-fledged introduction to the biblical foundations of law itself. From the Torah to the Constitution to today’s political controversies, Witherspoon is a firehose for the refreshing water of truth. —Hosea H., Liberty University Law Student

With a new facility of European grandeur and an improved schedule and speaker lineup, the 2007 Witherspoon School is expected to be held in July at the elegant Bavarian Inn overlooking the Potomac River in the West Virginia countryside, just a short drive from Washington, D.C. More details are expected soon.

Click here to stay tuned for more information about the Witherspoon School.

The 2007 Father and Son Retreat

The father and son relationship is one of the defining relationships in the universe. In fact, before there was a universe, there was the eternal Father who loved the eternal Son. We should not be surprised, therefore, that Satan has reserved his most fiery darts to alienate Christian fathers from their sons. With this in mind, Vision Forum Ministries launched its Father and Son Discipleship Retreats, designed to build a biblical vision for unity and love between the men of a family. Join us once again at the beautiful Crooked Creek Ranch, situated among 12,000-foot peaks near Winter Park, Colorado, August 10-13, for the 2007 Father and Son Discipleship Retreat.

I was really blessed to be able to spend this weekend with both my son and my dad. I learned for the first time of the multi-generational legacy of Christian fathers that preceded me. I have been able to see my father in a whole new light. His honor and sense of duty and dedication has [been] revealed to me and I now have an increased feeling of the responsibility that I have to maintain this legacy. —Wayne

Click here for more information about the 2007 Father and Son Retreat.

The 2007 Christian Filmmakers Academy

On October 22-24, the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival will be holding its third annual Christian Filmmakers Academy for aspiring filmmakers, home educators, Christian students, and industry professionals who want to broaden their grasp of the diverse skills necessary for independent Christian film production.

[T]hank you for the fabulous film academy that my daughter Caroline and I attended. We had opportunity to personally interact with most of the speakers as well as sit under their teaching and this was such a blessing! In addition to all of the great theology, doctrine, and vision, we especially benefited from Ken Carpenter’s session featuring a mock production meeting. It was so practical for the young filmmakers there like my daughter and for us who are trying to support them.... Thank you to the Botkins, too, who worked tirelessly, I know, in preparing for the academy and took time to talk to so many people, including us. As always, we so appreciate Doug’s vision for this industry and pray it will come about. Thank you so much! —Cathie B.

With hands-on practical training on equipment and lighting, to tips from industry professionals, instruction on creating musical scores, and lectures on how to write a winning, God-honoring script, the 2007 Film Academy will be an incredible time of vision-casting and skill-building by strong Christian men who are leaders in their fields.

To register or for more information, please visit the SAICFF Web site.

The San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival

The San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival and Jubilee Awards exist to encourage the production of films that inspire the highest ideals and most noble biblical values, with a commitment to holiness. The 2007 film festival is scheduled for October 25-27 at the Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio. Visit the SAICFF Web site for more information and to register to compete for the $10,000 “Best of Festival” Jubilee Award. Remember, the submission deadline for the 2007 competition is August 1, 2007.

I think I can honestly say, with little hindsight required, that SAICFF will prove to be a defining point in my life not only as a filmmaker, but more importantly as a new father and a Christian. It was wonderful to spend the week with people who shared a passionate belief in God’s ability to speak to the culture through film, and who responded to the idea of families creating art together, not with cynical accusations of nepotism, but with genuine appreciation, love, and enthusiasm. Prior to the festival, I had not fully contemplated and appreciated the value of working with family. That has changed because of you, your staff, and your informative speakers. Thank you for giving my wife, my brother, and me for such a wonderful experience to share together. —Richard R.

To register or for more information, please visit the SAICFF Web site.

The 2007 Faith and Freedom Tour

Once upon a time, there were giants in the land. Though forgotten by some, our nation’s landmarks stand as testaments of God’s providential mercies. To build a future for our children, we must remember the past through the lens of biblical Christianity. Toward this end, Vision Forum Ministries is hosting the 2007 Faith and Freedom Tour in Plymouth, Massachusetts, November 19-26, 2007.

What a glorious week it was for me to walk the beautiful autumn-arrayed grounds of New England that had, three and four hundred years prior, been tread by a more noble band of self-sacrificing men and women. Each day I was challenged as I gleaned truth from yourself and the other well-spoken guides, and each day my theology was strengthened, my love for history increased, and I departed with a greater desire to know more. Many, many thanks for another tour of lasting impact! —Hannah

Click here to register for the 2007 Faith and Freedom Tour.

All of our events have limited space, and many sell out quickly, so now is the time to consider your plans for the year. We hope to see you at one or more of our ministry events in 2007 and pray God’s blessings on you and your family.