50 years as an Akela, a true gift from our Lord by Paul Ritchi

In the fall of 1966, I joined a Scout Troop at the local United Church as an 11-year-old when the Baden-Powell program approach was still active in the then troop. I enjoyed a sense of brotherhood, camping, our weekly meetings, games, and the once-yearly Scout Zone Parade, where we would attend the Sunday service at the hosting church.

A wake-up call

My faith was very weak in my young adult years; I attended church for Christmas and Easter and sadly did not go to confession for many years. This weakness was reflected in the group I was leading at the time regarding the turnover of boys from one season to another, as parents only saw the program as a series of games and, for some, as a childcare service. A number of the then boys departed the program early; one ran into problems with the law, one died from a nut allergy at home, and three took their own lives either through stunts or willfully. These losses impacted me incredibly, and I began to question why we could not have done more to help the child choose life or even take a better path in life.

These harsh realities, plus the near-death of myself when a routine operation went wrong, was a profound wake-up call for me when I realized that I would have been lost to hell if I had died on the operating table and how the absence of God in our then program did not help equip our boys to choose first God and life.

A new movement begins

In the spring of 1998, the then Scouts Canada organization undertook structural changes that mandated a coed program for all units and acceptance and celebration of lifestyles in direct conflict with the teachings of Jesus and our faith. For selfish reasons, I wanted something better for my son David. I had three choices, one to accept the changes and try and live with it, two to resign and step away or three to look for an alternate youth movement. I chose option three when I stumbled across the FSE program active in Quebec under a youth movement called the AEBP, consisting of only French-speaking members.

After many emails, phone calls and a one-on-one meeting in Montreal with the then-AEBP leaders, they allowed us to start up the first English-speaking group in Thornhill and another fully secular group in Richmond Hill, led by another team of interested adults. On August 10, 1999, we started with ten boys and three leaders. We left behind tents, canoes and 60K in the bank, as all this belonged to the other organization. In hindsight, it was the best move we could ever have made. I knew we needed to embrace a program with the Catholic faith interwoven into all we do to help save souls through Christ and to encourage the youth to make Christ-centered decisions. I learned my lesson while also encouraging others to avoid making the same mistakes we made in the past.

We required manuals or other English support materials as we needed help understanding the new program method and approach, one totally foreign and new to us as leaders.

Our first personal encounter with members from our larger FSE movement was when a contingent of 48 Wayfarer explorers travelled from Italy to attend World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002 with Saint Pope John Paul II. We commenced World Youth Day celebrations by spending an afternoon and evening with our Italian brothers and sisters, where the world awaiting us through the FSE program became readily apparent. Here, for the first time, we discovered how deep the program is and how much we had yet to discover as a movement that was further expanded upon when Canadian Timberwolves and Explorers travelled to Rome for Holy Week in 2004, where we held a joint afternoon meeting with our Italian brother Timberwolves and Explorers in Rome. It was an awesome experience!

In 2007 our world as English-speaking Explorers appeared to be at risk of coming to an abrupt end when the AEBP voted to depart from the FSE and form their own traditional Scouting organization as Quebec society values had evolved away from primary church teachings and the related FSE methods – to save souls through the outdoors, brotherhood or sisterhood and service. The AEBP groups of the day voted in approval, including the transition to become a Christian-based movement open to exploring the options to include non-Christians in local units to be more inclusive as promoted by the governments and social movements of the day. My group viewed this as a giant step backwards, defeating our primary objectives. That summer, I flew to Paris for a three-day meeting with the FSE Federal Commissioner to see if we could remain members of the FSE family. Ultimately, the Federal Commissioner agreed to allow us as a single group to remain in the FSE and obtain the rights to the FSE program, symbols, flags, and badges for all of North America.

One Catholic family across borders

My vision was to develop a movement that would ignore borders so we could become one Catholic family supporting each other in the USA, Canada, and, perhaps one day, Mexico. We updated our name from Baden-Powell Explorers to the Federation of North American Explorers (FNE Explorers). It was a lonely existence for the next four years; the Catholic church was not very interested in what FNE could offer. Some Pastors or bishops even viewed us as too Catholic or risky to associate with a newly formed and unknown youth movement.

In November of 2010, a group of parents living in Berlin, NJ (near Philadelphia) reached out on a recommendation from their pastor, who had seen FSE active in Europe, to see if an FNE group could be formed from the local area parish. One year later, we formally installed our first group in the USA and second in FNE for the then Otters and Timberwolf program sections.

Then the floodgates opened with five FNE groups active by the end of 2012 to the current of more than 30, supporting a little more than 1,400 members and growing.

The FSE (European family and program developers) experience and offerings are so deep, with so much to discover, that we can’t help but be excited by what we have learned and what is still out there to embrace and bring to our youth in our respective FNE groups even to this very day.

What does it take to be a leader?

Ask a parent, a young adult, or a teenager to volunteer to serve as a leader; many think about the cost, be it time, freedom, wear and tear related to personal belongings, risk, effort, or even hard-earned personal cash. Others may fear their ability to lead and how it may change their lives, perhaps negatively. Or perhaps others wonder how they will personally be able to find the energy, wisdom, determination, and grit to get the job done. Society teaches an approach of me, myself and I and that the world owes you everything, especially if you position yourself as a victim of some sort. Is this all true? In a word from my 50 years of experience, “No”. This is especially true when one takes to heart what Jesus says to us through the Holy Scripture “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few”.

FNE, like the FSE’s primary focus, is to save souls, including our own. This countercultural point of view threatens many who do not believe or want to believe. FNE teaches the truth; we are a Christ-centered education for life movement. By movement, we mean that what FNE youth learn today will benefit and help them for the rest of their natural lives.

To be a leader or to have a child in FNE as a parent does require personal sacrifice and hard work. A fair question to ask – tell us what FNE has done for you, Paul Ritchi as its founder:

• To see the love of Christ, the support from the Father and the working of the Holy Spirit in action while also seeing many failed attempts from the evil one, Satan, to divide, cause calamities or fear.

• Helps me become a better father, husband, son, grandfather, brother, and cousin.

• Allowed me to develop advanced leadership, management and communication skills that benefited me tremendously in my career and now as the FNE Founder and General Commissioner.

• Drives me to strive to become an ordinary saint in this lifetime.

• The rewards are far greater than any sacrifices I have made.

• Following Christ is never easy. As I often tell my leaders, if it is too easy, worry or at least be alert. Something is wrong. Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we get to heaven.

Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we get to heaven.

The Way Forward – The Future for FNE

Western societies are under attack by left-wing progressive values, ideals and practices that directly attack the family, peace, and salvation. Children are increasingly confused as to the right path to choose in life. Others are glued to their screens and phones and miss out on the excitement of the outdoors, to discover nature, play, pray and work together with brothers or sisters as human beings – real-time, face-to-face reality and not living or interacting in a virtual reality world.

The need for the FNE Explorer program has never been greater. FNE belongs to Jesus Christ. Jesus has invited (or in some cases disinvited) each of our members at all levels to be part of his growing youth movement, despite the many odds that may be against us. The evil one is well aware of our mission; he will stop at nothing to try and squash our FNE movement.

My asks as the Founder of FNE

• Spread the word about our FNE program and encourage families and adults to join FNE to serve the Lord and grow in ways one can’t imagine right now.

• Embrace this prayer as members of FNE – “Lord Jesus, I surrender myself to you; take care of everything”. And he will with our trust and cooperation.

• Encourage others to contribute to FNE using their God-given talents while they develop new talents through the FNE program experience and training.

• Love one another, and do not allow the devil to drive in any division.

• Embrace the Explorer Promise and Law, especially the first – “An Explorer Honour is to be Trusted, and the tenth An Explorer is pure in thought, word and deed.”

• Help others to grow and then step up to assume more senior positions of responsibility in FNE, especially as it relates to my position in the future. I am getting older, much to my dismay.

• Love our youth and one another; this will bring you great peace and joy.

Conclusion

Remember that every member of our FNE family today and into the future is valued, loved and appreciated, no matter their age or position of responsibility. We are loyal to our senior leaders and guard our movement against the evil one and those who follow him or act on his behalf.

Our adventure and development of our movement is just a mustard seed. Jesus has great plans for his movement. We must step aside and follow our Lord while daring to grow ourselves to serve one another better, with the youth entrusted to our care to be first and foremost in our efforts. Only then will we be happy, content, and successful.

Thank you to today’s, yesterday’s and tomorrow’s leaders and FNE supporters for making all this possible.

Paul Ritchi
General Commissioner and Founder
Federation of North-American Explorers