OKLAHOMA—On February 17, Presidents’ Day, Herbert W. Armstrong College students drove out to the Philadelphia Church of God’s new property in Mulhall, Oklahoma, where they cleaned up trash, demolished a barn, built a bonfire, went shooting, ate, danced and sang.

With classes out of session, the students had a slower morning that included a special brunch before piling into the fleet of student vehicles and driving out to the land. Once they arrived, they immediately set to work clearing trash from along the creek and lake. For the rest of the work party, they prepared an old shed for demolition, pulling away sheet metal from the exterior and busting through parts of the frame to weaken it. Other students, tasked with building a bonfire, hauled away useless timber with the speed of the Department of Government Efficiency. Agriculture department manager Josh Wainwright said they probably saved him “weeks of work.”

During the work party, they occasionally uncovered creatures who had made their homes amongst the stuff. One student picked up an old piece of wood revealing a large rat. Freshman Jonathan Saranga immediately set to exterminate the pest but was discouraged from doing so by onlooking female students. Rather than kill it, he tossed it across the field, resulting in a high-pitched scream from the rat. In another instance, junior Mitchell McLain discovered a deep hole in the ground. He thrust his long arm into the hole, retrieving a snake-like creature that other students fawned over.

The students regrouped in a barn for snacks and a brief history of the land provided by Wainwright. Then they took a walk to the other side of the land. Student body president Jude Flurry asked for three volunteers (who had no clue what they were volunteering for). Flurry announced to the volunteers that they would have only a few minutes to get as far away from the group as possible and hide. The three fugitives took off, shortly followed by a mass of students who went in search of them. Evidently, the fugitives were excellent at hiding (or the students were less than excellent at manhunting). College junior and fugitive Jacob Hessong reported that more than one student stood directly beneath the tree he was hiding in .

Back at the barn, Wainwright then brought out a shotgun, rifle and pistol, giving the students a crack at hitting targets including clay pigeons. Some students discovered that they were as poor at marksmanship as they were at manhunting.

The students ate dinner while some set the pile of wood ablaze. Flames licked up the mountain of material as if it were water, exhaling face-scalding heat dozens of feet away. Students warmed themselves by the fire, turning like rotisserie chickens to avoid overheating on one side. Music began blaring from a speaker, and they moved over to a patch of dirt next to the roaring fire where they had a casual dance. A few of the young men decided to take their dance partners onto a wobbly stack of haybales nearby. Despite doing flips and spins next to the raging fire, everyone made it to the end of the dance unscathed.

The students set up foldable chairs around the bonfire, which had calmed to the point where it was safe for students to roast their marshmallows. They passed around sheets of paper with the words to well-known songs, and some brought out guitars. The group sang together, their faces aglow with the light of the fire. With a full day of activities behind them, they loaded back into the vehicles and drove home.