Over 400 men crowded into the Friendship Camp gymnasium for a steak dinner and prizes on Oct. 14, but instead, they had a divine appointment with God.

By the end of the evening, 40 men said they had accepted Christ for the first time. There were also eleven recommitments while more than 100 stated it was a time of personal revival or refocus.

The men of the Friendship Baptist Association – made up of 46 Southern Baptist churches in the area – spent months planning the Season Opener Dinner. That included collecting more than $4,000 worth of giveaway prizes donated by local businesses.

The brothers have hunted wild game for most of their lives.

But for them, there’s a deeply personal connection between hunting and a tragedy from their childhood. Their father, Walter Witt, was mistakenly killed by another hunter on Dec. 14, 1974.

Dan, then 14, heard the shot that struck his father. Mark was only twelve at the time.

Hundreds of men and boys listened as the brothers shared about that day and the years that followed.

Besides hunting, Walter was also passionate about sharing God’s word with others. He had been scheduled to preach at a local church the day after the accident.

That left the brothers struggling for years to understand why their father was killed. Dan said that he reached a breaking point in his faith after living with resentment for years. As he turned towards God, he offered the biggest sacrifice he could: hunting.

But instead of stopping the man from hunting, God gave him a ministry that revolved around it.

“We all have talents,” Dan said. “God wants us to give them to Him, step back, and watch what He does with them.”

He added, “God can take a country kid from Myersville, Pennsylvania, a tragedy, and bring him here.”

Mark followed his brother’s message by sharing a gospel presentation and inviting men to give their lives to Christ.

“It was amazing. God was in the house,” said James Windham.

The Witt brothers’ story was featured in the Field and Stream in 2011. That edition has outsold all others from the magazine. The article can still be read online.