July 17, 2025 • 11 mins
Join Karen Potter and Rob Stoddard on The Covenant Eyes Podcast as they speak with Mark Hancock, CEO of Trail Life USA.
Discover how Trail Life USA is raising the next generation of godly men through outdoor adventure and Christian principles, and explore Mark's devotional book, 101 Devotions for Dads with Boys.
Learn about the unique challenges boys face in today's culture and how dads can intentionally connect with their sons.
RESOURCES:
🔗 Trail Life USA: https://www.TrailLifeUSA.com
📘 Trail Ready Devotional: https://shop.traillifeusa.com/product/trail-ready-101-devotions-for-dads-with-boys/
📗 Flight of the Falcon Book: https://shop.traillifeusa.com/product/flight-of-the-falcon/
____________________________________________________
🧭 Take the Free PAUS Test: https://cvnteyes.co/test
____________________________________________________
#TrailLifeUSA #ChristianParenting #FatherSon #BoysMinistry #OutdoorAdventure #DevotionsForDads #CovenantEyes #MarkHancock #ChristianMen #YouthDevelopment #churchoutreach
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
Everybody, welcome back toThe Covenant Eyes Podcast.
We are so gladto have you joining us.
We have a great guestjoining us today.
Mark Hancock is joining us. Rob.
He's a favorite of ours.
Absolutely.
I mean, when you talk about dadsand young men, such an issue
and such a such a big topic and,we loved,
(00:26):
love to talk about this.
So, Mark, thanks for joining us.
Mark, by the way, is the CEO ofTrail Life.
Yeah.
And, so, Mark,tell us a little bit
about yourselfand, your ministry
with Trail Life.
I love to let me startwith Kevin and and thank you
for what it isthat you guys do have.
I have two sons.
They're now 25 and 23.
And we've had been fans andand customers of Covenant Eyes
(00:48):
for years.
And so I appreciate the changesthat you've done,
the way that you'veyou've changed with technology
to keep up with things.
And it's just beena wonderful thing.
Now they're both marriedand I still get
my weekly covenant.
So think of it for what it is.
You see. You.
You know, trail off USA.
I've been privileged to leadfor 11 years now.
We launched in 2014and ironically,
(01:09):
we're in the placewhere, in 2013, the Boy
Scouts of America met herein this building and decided
to change our membershipstandards. Yes.
Which led to,what we've seen happen,
what we call downward growth.
Yeah, they've gone from over7 million members now under
a million members. Yeah.
Because of those decisions.
And so trail, I've startedout of that.
(01:30):
And so it'skind of neat to be back
in this buildingwhere that you were
where our familywas so depressed when Boy Scouts
made their change.
But out of that,God launched Trail Life.
That's right.
As an unapologeticallyChristian, boy focused
organization, we believeboys and girls are different,
that they need our focusand our on our attention.
And we've just growncrazy. Gross.
(01:51):
Almost 70,000 membersin all 50 states, over
1300 churches now participatingin trail USA across the country.
So always love to talk withyou guys about real life.
Yeah, awesome.
But you also have somedevotional resources.
You said that.
So I'm going to show this one.
This one is, 101 devotionsfor dads with boys.
You said one or 2 or 2 of one.
Yeah, I'm one of those.
(02:12):
Okay.
It's coming out as well.
So this is a great resource.
Talk to us abouthow dads are using this
with their boys.
What does it look likepractically?
It's a neat bookbecause it's called Trail Ready
100 devotions, 101 devotionsfor dads with boys.
And it was written to a dadwho has a son. Okay.
And so it's not for himto do with his son necessarily,
but it's written together.
Understand, understandbecause we're in a culture
(02:33):
that discountsmen and boys. Yes.
And boys are treatedas if there's some sort
of a defectivegirl or something.
So this is helpingto remind dads on a daily basis
of the wonderand the marvel of a boy.
Yeah, he's not just adefective girl.
He is actuallyhis own beautiful thing.
Yes.
And he's he's made different.
But but we wewe know how active boys
(02:56):
like to be.
And also dads are the sun.
So every devotion has a page.
It's a one day hikethat a dad can do with
a son, somewhere.
And so, yes, men have used it.
I was really blessedone day to see, somebody
reach out to me through Facebookand sent me a picture of
he and his son in Hawaii.
Oh, wow.
On the trailthat was in the picture
(03:17):
and that devotion in that spot.
And he's smiling andholding the book up,
saying, here's my sonand I taking this one day
hike as I read thisdevotional today.
Wow, that's just beautiful.
So I love seeing dadsget in the outdoors
with their sons.
And of course, Trail Lifeis an outdoor organization,
so that just mademade sense for us.
Yeah. That yeah.
Yeah, that's that's animportant resource.
(03:38):
Because if guys if mendon't get involved with raising
their sons up and we see itso much in our culture today,
we're really missing it.
So thank you for that.
Well, it's hard.
It is for it is.
Dads figure out how to connectwith their sons.
Yeah. You can't.
I remember trying to playa video game with my sons.
I was like, forget it.
I do not have the time in itto be competitive.
(04:01):
It was just Minecraftwasn't even this great.
It was just, you know,so I'll just go over here
and build a chicken coopand you guys do
whatever you're doing.
I guess I, I just could notkeep up.
Yeah.
You got to do this and do that.
No, I'm just goingto do what I can do.
Yeah. No.
It's so hard to keep upin their world.
Yeah, but Trail Life providesthis great opportunity
for dads and sons.
It's a level playing field.
It's the outdoors, right.
And they learn togetherthings like why Moss is on
(04:23):
this side of the tree,or how to start a fire
with wet leaves.
Yes.
The best place to set upmy tent or yes.
Or how to how to pack a backpackfor a five day trip.
And they learn thesethings together.
So it's this levelplaying field for dads.
And of course,Trail Life appeals.
Even men without sons.
We have over20,000 adult volunteers
across the country,many of these men without sons.
(04:44):
But they say, hey, I need a bandof brothers. Yeah.
And they have foundand trail lives.
These men who areband of brothers who are focused
on the next generation,and they share that passion
and that purpose.
And so they're out therewith guys
who share their values,enjoying the outdoors
along with the boys.
That's great.
And single moms love itbecause it's like,
where do I put my son?
Where he can be aroundmen, good and godly men,
(05:06):
and they love itbecause it's, hey,
here's my son. Help me.
Yeah.
Had a young manout in California
not too long agostood before his troop.
He had just wonone of our earned one of our
highest awards. Yeah.
And he said,I need to thank the men
in this room.
He had a single momraised by his mom, said,
I need to thank the menin this room.
You taught me how to shaveand how to love Jesus.
I love that, and I thoughtthey nailed it.
(05:27):
Yeah, you can imaginebeing a single mom saying, yeah,
I did the right thing.
I've got a place for myself.
And so yeah, yeah.
So we love theway Trail Life is.
Most people don't knowhow to measure whether porn
is a problem.
Well, now you can.
Hi, I'm Mike Stone, producer ofThe Covenant Eyes Podcast.
At Covenant Eyes,we have created a short,
(05:48):
free and confidential assessmentcalled the PAUS Test.
That's Porn AddictionUse Severity.
It's not about judgment,it's about understanding.
So in just a few minutes,you'll get clarity
on where you standand what your next step
could be.
So take the free testnow at cvnteyes.co/test.
(06:14):
That's cvnteyes.co/test.
Super short, super simple.
Now you've got nothing to loseand everything to gain.
Now back to the show.
And you're teaching boysreally their role,
their biblical role too,as providers, protectors,
(06:36):
those things that God hasgifted with men.
You guys reallyjust kind of built that into
your programing.
And I think that's so important.
Yeah.
So you also haveanother book out, The Flight
of the Falcon.
So is this what is this?
This is.
An adventure fiction.
Connection.
Yeah. Right.
Right along withBrian Davis, who's
an amazing, author.
Awesome.
(06:57):
And he's been a friendfor years, and we just,
collaborated.
Hey, let's tell a story,the boys.
And this is the firstin a series we've planned
for five books.
Spoiler alert.
I have no ideahow it's going to end.
So we wrote ourselves into this.
We wrote this story, and.
And every once in a while,we get together, we say,
where are we going with this?
Because we're not surehow we can get them.
(07:18):
You know, asany adventure story, it's really
set up for the,the boys love it.
And, it's a boy.
His his dad is missing.
Okay.
And so him dealing with hishis dad has disappeared
mysteriously and just,taking him through
that whole story.
So many boys without dads today.
So, but he's in a TrailLife troop, and so it's
just following himthrough his adventure, trying to
(07:40):
to find his father, reconnectwith his father.
We don't yetknow how it happened.
Yeah. Oh, wow.
So it's like I can't evengive it away
because anticipation.
Has gone.
Well.
Mark one, one thing that we loveis just your connection
with the churchand how your ministry
comes alongside.
Help churchesreach the young men
and any and fathersin their community.
(08:00):
So talk to us a little bitabout how you work
with the church.
Yeah, what that looks like.
Or having come out of being inand on church staff
as a pastor's youth pastor,associate pastor,
I know the strugglethat pastors face
in getting men involved.
How how do we we need somethingfor them?
Yeah, because they're inspired.
These are menwho are doing great
things at work every dayor in the household or whatever.
How do we get theminvolved in ministry.
(08:23):
And Trail Life USA is answeringthat question for pastors
because men you know,they may not be able
to work in the nursery or thechildren's church,
or maybe they can't singand be on the worship team.
Maybe, maybe they canhelp park the cars.
But oh my gosh,what are we doing
with men in the church?
And so Trail Lifeputs them in this
situation where it's like, hey.
And that it like dawns on them,I'm in ministry.
(08:45):
Yeah, you're in ministry.
You're out herecamping in the outdoors
or hiking or or with this othergroup of men.
But you're in ministry.
You're making a difference,and it really brings men
to life.
Yeah, an interesting thing.
You know, we consider ourselvesan outreach at a local church.
We just don't.
We're just not a groupthat meets in our basement.
We are a ministryof that church.
So that troopis a ministry. And, it's it's
(09:06):
amazing that 18%of our adult members
join that church afterthey join the true.
Oh, wow.
So they come inbecause they say,
hey, I want a place.
I want an outdooradventure organization
for my sons.
And they come in there,but they're meeting
at the church,but they're also during
these outdoor adventuresand they're looking for church
and they're meetingthe other adults. Yeah.
Who are leadingthe troop are members
(09:27):
of that church.
And they say, this is going tobe our church home,
or they come to Christand they say,
we need a church home.
And that's a natural.
Is 18% of our adult leadersjoin that church after they join
the troop?
So it's an evangelisticbecause you can invite a boy
to Sunday school for forever.
Yeah.
You know, particularlyif it's not
from a family of faith.
He's not going to go,but probably but you invite him
(09:52):
to go, hey, we're goingcanoeing or hiking or rock
climbing or whitewaterrafting or something
like that. Yeah.
That unchurchedboy joins the troop,
and then the unchurched familyjoins the church, and it's
just been a beautifulwhat a great way
to grow the kingdom.
Yeah, I love that.
That's great.
Well, Mark, how do our listenersget connected with you guys
and your ministry?
And how do they maybe evenbring it into their church
(10:13):
if it's not already there?
Yeah, well, that questionis answered the same way. Yeah.
TrailLifeUSA.com,two L's in the middle.
TrailLifeUSA.com.
And there's this tab therethat says get connected okay.
And you click on that showsyou a map of the United States.
Where all the troops are.
You can put in your zip code.
Okay, I'll showyou troops there nearby
how far away they are from you,what knights they meet
(10:34):
in, click on itand connect with that.
Troops say,hey, I'd like to come
be a member.
I'd like to come check it outand they'll invite you
and look for youwhen you attend.
Yeah, and if there's not atroop in your area,
there's also a tabthat says start a troop
and you find out how you canbring a troop,
to your local church.
Awesome, excellent.
Well, Mark, thank you so muchfor your ministry.
Thank you.
So important and so, so needed.
And thank youfor what you're doing.
(10:56):
We appreciate that, too.
Yeah. God bless.
Yeah.
Well, to all of our listeners,please check out Trail Life.
It is an amazing organization.
You will not be disappointed.
We'll put all the linksin the show notes.
And thank you for tuning into this episode
of The Covenant EyesPodcast. Take care.
God bless.
Everybody, welcome back toThe Covenant Eyes Podcast.
We are so gladto have you joining us.
We have a great guestjoining us today.
Mark Hancock is joining us. Rob.
He's a favorite of ours.
Absolutely.
I mean, when you talk about dadsand young men, such an issue
and such a such a big topic and,we loved,
(00:26):
love to talk about this.
So, Mark, thanks for joining us.
Mark, by the way, is the CEO ofTrail Life.
Yeah.
And, so, Mark,tell us a little bit
about yourselfand, your ministry
with Trail Life.
I love to let me startwith Kevin and and thank you
for what it isthat you guys do have.
I have two sons.
They're now 25 and 23.
And we've had been fans andand customers of Covenant Eyes
(00:48):
for years.
And so I appreciate the changesthat you've done,
the way that you'veyou've changed with technology
to keep up with things.
And it's just beena wonderful thing.
Now they're both marriedand I still get
my weekly covenant.
So think of it for what it is.
You see. You.
You know, trail off USA.
I've been privileged to leadfor 11 years now.
We launched in 2014and ironically,
(01:09):
we're in the placewhere, in 2013, the Boy
Scouts of America met herein this building and decided
to change our membershipstandards. Yes.
Which led to,what we've seen happen,
what we call downward growth.
Yeah, they've gone from over7 million members now under
a million members. Yeah.
Because of those decisions.
And so trail, I've startedout of that.
(01:30):
And so it'skind of neat to be back
in this buildingwhere that you were
where our familywas so depressed when Boy Scouts
made their change.
But out of that,God launched Trail Life.
That's right.
As an unapologeticallyChristian, boy focused
organization, we believeboys and girls are different,
that they need our focusand our on our attention.
And we've just growncrazy. Gross.
(01:51):
Almost 70,000 membersin all 50 states, over
1300 churches now participatingin trail USA across the country.
So always love to talk withyou guys about real life.
Yeah, awesome.
But you also have somedevotional resources.
You said that.
So I'm going to show this one.
This one is, 101 devotionsfor dads with boys.
You said one or 2 or 2 of one.
Yeah, I'm one of those.
(02:12):
Okay.
It's coming out as well.
So this is a great resource.
Talk to us abouthow dads are using this
with their boys.
What does it look likepractically?
It's a neat bookbecause it's called Trail Ready
100 devotions, 101 devotionsfor dads with boys.
And it was written to a dadwho has a son. Okay.
And so it's not for himto do with his son necessarily,
but it's written together.
Understand, understandbecause we're in a culture
(02:33):
that discountsmen and boys. Yes.
And boys are treatedas if there's some sort
of a defectivegirl or something.
So this is helpingto remind dads on a daily basis
of the wonderand the marvel of a boy.
Yeah, he's not just adefective girl.
He is actuallyhis own beautiful thing.
Yes.
And he's he's made different.
But but we wewe know how active boys
(02:56):
like to be.
And also dads are the sun.
So every devotion has a page.
It's a one day hikethat a dad can do with
a son, somewhere.
And so, yes, men have used it.
I was really blessedone day to see, somebody
reach out to me through Facebookand sent me a picture of
he and his son in Hawaii.
Oh, wow.
On the trailthat was in the picture
(03:17):
and that devotion in that spot.
And he's smiling andholding the book up,
saying, here's my sonand I taking this one day
hike as I read thisdevotional today.
Wow, that's just beautiful.
So I love seeing dadsget in the outdoors
with their sons.
And of course, Trail Lifeis an outdoor organization,
so that just mademade sense for us.
Yeah. That yeah.
Yeah, that's that's animportant resource.
(03:38):
Because if guys if mendon't get involved with raising
their sons up and we see itso much in our culture today,
we're really missing it.
So thank you for that.
Well, it's hard.
It is for it is.
Dads figure out how to connectwith their sons.
Yeah. You can't.
I remember trying to playa video game with my sons.
I was like, forget it.
I do not have the time in itto be competitive.
(04:01):
It was just Minecraftwasn't even this great.
It was just, you know,so I'll just go over here
and build a chicken coopand you guys do
whatever you're doing.
I guess I, I just could notkeep up.
Yeah.
You got to do this and do that.
No, I'm just goingto do what I can do.
Yeah. No.
It's so hard to keep upin their world.
Yeah, but Trail Life providesthis great opportunity
for dads and sons.
It's a level playing field.
It's the outdoors, right.
And they learn togetherthings like why Moss is on
(04:23):
this side of the tree,or how to start a fire
with wet leaves.
Yes.
The best place to set upmy tent or yes.
Or how to how to pack a backpackfor a five day trip.
And they learn thesethings together.
So it's this levelplaying field for dads.
And of course,Trail Life appeals.
Even men without sons.
We have over20,000 adult volunteers
across the country,many of these men without sons.
(04:44):
But they say, hey, I need a bandof brothers. Yeah.
And they have foundand trail lives.
These men who areband of brothers who are focused
on the next generation,and they share that passion
and that purpose.
And so they're out therewith guys
who share their values,enjoying the outdoors
along with the boys.
That's great.
And single moms love itbecause it's like,
where do I put my son?
Where he can be aroundmen, good and godly men,
(05:06):
and they love itbecause it's, hey,
here's my son. Help me.
Yeah.
Had a young manout in California
not too long agostood before his troop.
He had just wonone of our earned one of our
highest awards. Yeah.
And he said,I need to thank the men
in this room.
He had a single momraised by his mom, said,
I need to thank the menin this room.
You taught me how to shaveand how to love Jesus.
I love that, and I thoughtthey nailed it.
(05:27):
Yeah, you can imaginebeing a single mom saying, yeah,
I did the right thing.
I've got a place for myself.
And so yeah, yeah.
So we love theway Trail Life is.
Most people don't knowhow to measure whether porn
is a problem.
Well, now you can.
Hi, I'm Mike Stone, producer ofThe Covenant Eyes Podcast.
At Covenant Eyes,we have created a short,
(05:48):
free and confidential assessmentcalled the PAUS Test.
That's Porn AddictionUse Severity.
It's not about judgment,it's about understanding.
So in just a few minutes,you'll get clarity
on where you standand what your next step
could be.
So take the free testnow at cvnteyes.co/test.
(06:14):
That's cvnteyes.co/test.
Super short, super simple.
Now you've got nothing to loseand everything to gain.
Now back to the show.
And you're teaching boysreally their role,
their biblical role too,as providers, protectors,
(06:36):
those things that God hasgifted with men.
You guys reallyjust kind of built that into
your programing.
And I think that's so important.
Yeah.
So you also haveanother book out, The Flight
of the Falcon.
So is this what is this?
This is.
An adventure fiction.
Connection.
Yeah. Right.
Right along withBrian Davis, who's
an amazing, author.
Awesome.
(06:57):
And he's been a friendfor years, and we just,
collaborated.
Hey, let's tell a story,the boys.
And this is the firstin a series we've planned
for five books.
Spoiler alert.
I have no ideahow it's going to end.
So we wrote ourselves into this.
We wrote this story, and.
And every once in a while,we get together, we say,
where are we going with this?
Because we're not surehow we can get them.
(07:18):
You know, asany adventure story, it's really
set up for the,the boys love it.
And, it's a boy.
His his dad is missing.
Okay.
And so him dealing with hishis dad has disappeared
mysteriously and just,taking him through
that whole story.
So many boys without dads today.
So, but he's in a TrailLife troop, and so it's
just following himthrough his adventure, trying to
(07:40):
to find his father, reconnectwith his father.
We don't yetknow how it happened.
Yeah. Oh, wow.
So it's like I can't evengive it away
because anticipation.
Has gone.
Well.
Mark one, one thing that we loveis just your connection
with the churchand how your ministry
comes alongside.
Help churchesreach the young men
and any and fathersin their community.
(08:00):
So talk to us a little bitabout how you work
with the church.
Yeah, what that looks like.
Or having come out of being inand on church staff
as a pastor's youth pastor,associate pastor,
I know the strugglethat pastors face
in getting men involved.
How how do we we need somethingfor them?
Yeah, because they're inspired.
These are menwho are doing great
things at work every dayor in the household or whatever.
How do we get theminvolved in ministry.
(08:23):
And Trail Life USA is answeringthat question for pastors
because men you know,they may not be able
to work in the nursery or thechildren's church,
or maybe they can't singand be on the worship team.
Maybe, maybe they canhelp park the cars.
But oh my gosh,what are we doing
with men in the church?
And so Trail Lifeputs them in this
situation where it's like, hey.
And that it like dawns on them,I'm in ministry.
(08:45):
Yeah, you're in ministry.
You're out herecamping in the outdoors
or hiking or or with this othergroup of men.
But you're in ministry.
You're making a difference,and it really brings men
to life.
Yeah, an interesting thing.
You know, we consider ourselvesan outreach at a local church.
We just don't.
We're just not a groupthat meets in our basement.
We are a ministryof that church.
So that troopis a ministry. And, it's it's
(09:06):
amazing that 18%of our adult members
join that church afterthey join the true.
Oh, wow.
So they come inbecause they say,
hey, I want a place.
I want an outdooradventure organization
for my sons.
And they come in there,but they're meeting
at the church,but they're also during
these outdoor adventuresand they're looking for church
and they're meetingthe other adults. Yeah.
Who are leadingthe troop are members
(09:27):
of that church.
And they say, this is going tobe our church home,
or they come to Christand they say,
we need a church home.
And that's a natural.
Is 18% of our adult leadersjoin that church after they join
the troop?
So it's an evangelisticbecause you can invite a boy
to Sunday school for forever.
Yeah.
You know, particularlyif it's not
from a family of faith.
He's not going to go,but probably but you invite him
(09:52):
to go, hey, we're goingcanoeing or hiking or rock
climbing or whitewaterrafting or something
like that. Yeah.
That unchurchedboy joins the troop,
and then the unchurched familyjoins the church, and it's
just been a beautifulwhat a great way
to grow the kingdom.
Yeah, I love that.
That's great.
Well, Mark, how do our listenersget connected with you guys
and your ministry?
And how do they maybe evenbring it into their church
(10:13):
if it's not already there?
Yeah, well, that questionis answered the same way. Yeah.
TrailLifeUSA.com,two L's in the middle.
TrailLifeUSA.com.
And there's this tab therethat says get connected okay.
And you click on that showsyou a map of the United States.
Where all the troops are.
You can put in your zip code.
Okay, I'll showyou troops there nearby
how far away they are from you,what knights they meet
(10:34):
in, click on itand connect with that.
Troops say,hey, I'd like to come
be a member.
I'd like to come check it outand they'll invite you
and look for youwhen you attend.
Yeah, and if there's not atroop in your area,
there's also a tabthat says start a troop
and you find out how you canbring a troop,
to your local church.
Awesome, excellent.
Well, Mark, thank you so muchfor your ministry.
Thank you.
So important and so, so needed.
And thank youfor what you're doing.
(10:56):
We appreciate that, too.
Yeah. God bless.
Yeah.
Well, to all of our listeners,please check out Trail Life.
It is an amazing organization.
You will not be disappointed.
We'll put all the linksin the show notes.
And thank you for tuning into this episode
of The Covenant EyesPodcast. Take care.
God bless.
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Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.