Introducing Our New FCF National Coordinator

May 29, 2019

We are excited to announce that John W. Hembree has been approved by the Assemblies of God leadership as the new Frontiersmen Camping Fellowship national coordinator. He has served as the interim coordinator since July 2018 when the national coordinator, Paul Walters, passed away suddenly.

John grew up in Goshen, OH near Cincinnati and accepted the Lord when he was 17 years old. He began his Royal Rangers career in 1987 as a lieutenant commander and was involved in an outpost for about two years. By 1989, John was married and attending a church that didn’t have Royal Rangers, so he spent many years away from this ministry. In 2004, John’s family started attending an Assemblies of God church, and he was reunited with Royal Rangers. He got involved again in the ministry with his son, Anthony, who later became a national scout.

From 2005-2007, John joined FCF and completed Buckskin and Wilderness. He took his FCF name, “Many Waters,” from Scripture as many leaders have done through the years. “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters” (Psalm 29:3, KJV). He quickly became involved in leadership in the Coureur de Bois chapter as the event coordinator. From 2009–2017, John served as the Voyagers territorial representative. From 2011-2016, he served FCF as the national scribe. In 2016, he transitioned to the assistant national coordinator position where he served until his appointment as the national coordinator became official in May 2019.

Over the years, John has completed several training events and has served on staff at many district adult and junior training events. Always wanting to better his skills, John completed National Academy and Advanced Academy so that he can serve as staff at national training events. He is also a NRA black powder rifle instructor and range safety officer.

John has been involved in his district’s version of Junior Academy for many years. For their Academy, he developed a high adventure camp. He and another leader developed a high-tech track within the district’s Academy that included three different camps each with a different focus—computer skills (hardware, networking, and applications), and media skills (film production, camera work, and editing), and robotics.

John and his family currently live in Batavia, OH near Cincinnati and attend Real Life Assembly of God (OP 50). Although he has served as outpost coordinator, Discovery Rangers leader, and Expedition Rangers leader, he is currently the Adventure Rangers leader in his outpost. When asked what he enjoys about working with Adventure Rangers, he said it was the different interests the boys are developing. He said that the group can then explore these interests together through various skill merits. He also enjoys that they can talk on a deeper level during the Bible study time. Of course, he always makes sure those interested in FCF have the necessary requirements to join.

When John isn’t participating in Royal Rangers, he is an eCommerce Process Manager and dabbles in real estate investing. If you follow John on Facebook, you see some of the exciting international locations that his job has taken him over the years like Budapest and Nuremberg.

John and his wife, Pam, have three children—Rachel, Katherine, and Anthony. Rachel and her husband, Brandon Hatfield, have a daughter and are expecting their second in October.