It has often been said of a man that he was born before his time. I firmly believe I was a man born after his time. I have always been drawn to the history and the amazing feats and accomplishments of the mountain man time period. The ability to live simply and provide for oneself and his family from the abundance of the great outdoors, both financially and to stay alive, is a romantic idea I have always loved and have strived to emulate this in my life. I was born in Murphysboro, Illinois, in 1977. I spent the formative years of my childhood in Southeast Missouri. I attended a Parochial Christian school until 7th grade. In 8th grade, I switched to Perryville Public Schools (Missouri) where I also attended High School and became a Pirate Captain (I was captain of the baseball team, and our mascot was the Pirates). My childhood years were spent freely roaming God’s great creation in the form of the forests and hills of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. Like most mountain men of yesteryear, my beginnings were in the Midwest, with the call of the Rocky Mountains being too strong to resist later in life. I experienced a great deal of freedom as a child as I explored the woods alone and marveled at God’s great creation and the intricate relationships He designed. My mother was very inspirational to me as a child and allowed me to have this freedom to learn and grow outdoors. This is the reason why Raven Adventures & Training is named after my mother, with Raven being my mother’s maiden name in German. The raven was also used by God in the Old and New Testament, both as a messenger and as provider of means for His prophet Elijah in the wilderness (1 Kings 17:4-6 NIV). Unbeknownst to me at the time, this wandering about would later lead me to a life-long tenure as a Naturalist. The things a kid in the country grows up with and experiences on a daily basis can help to form a personal relationship with God’s creation and develop a healthy belief system of observation and conservation. Understanding what nature will do from day-to-day and season-to-season becomes part of everyday life.
I attended Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri, where I studied for and began what I thought would be a life-long career in Federal Law Enforcement. God always has a plan, and His plan for me wasn’t in Federal Law Enforcement. Teaching and helping others, especially in matters of Naturalism, became God’s new mission for me. I met my wife in August of 2002 at the Wyman Center outside of St. Louis, Missouri while we were both teaching Outdoor Education. We were married in 2004 and began a life of service and education together. Our family expanded with the birth of Clara in 2009 and with Heidi and Barrett following in 2011 and 2014 respectively. God has called our family to many locations, in many states, some at Christian organizations and some at secular organizations. The greatest thing that came out of all of our moves and our employment at all of the different organizations was experience. Experience is the one area that cannot be faked or forged. Over the years I have had the privilege of working with some very dedicated and knowledgeable staff. This has always inspired me to improve and challenge myself daily.
The biggest influence on my life, from a Naturalist point of view, was Dr. John Wickersham at Maryville University. Dr. Wickersham and I didn’t cross paths until the very last class of my time at Maryville University, but it led to a great friendship and the opportunity to attend several university trips to Colorado. These trips were my first time in the great state of Colorado and instilled in me a true love of the mountains. This ultimately inspired me to make the permanent move to Colorado with my family to continue to spread the good news of the gospel and promote God’s kingdom as a Natural Historian. My experience has allowed me to teach or be involved with almost every outdoor activity and camp program imaginable. In 2018, my family and I made the decision to start Raven Adventures & Training to continue to teach and educate camps and camp staff on areas where other trainings may fall short. Also in 2018, I agreed to help Colorado Christian University develop and teach a Field Natural History course to educate future Outdoor Ministry leaders in the field of Naturalism.
God has truly looked on our family with favor and we are ready to give back our knowledge and love of outdoor education to both Christian and non-Christian camps and organizations. It is my firmly held belief that the best way to get closer to God daily during our limited time on Earth, is to learn as much as we can about His great creation and spend time enjoying it.
John W. Amschler
Sole Proprietor
Raven Adventures & Training
