On April 29, 1607, Robert Hunt landed on a beach in Virginia that we now call Cape Henry. He instructed the landing party to cut out a portion of the ship's beams from the hull. Notice the commitment level here. Cutting pieces out of your ship is not exactly a good thing to do, yet they did it. The landing party then took those timbers, erected a cross, and drove it into the beachhead—proclaiming this land for God and for freedom from that day forward.

What the Covenant Said

"We do hereby dedicate this Land, and ourselves, to reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up Godly generations after us, and with these generations take the Kingdom of God to all the earth. May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all generations, as long as this earth remains, and may this Land, along with England, be Evangelist to the World. May all who see this Cross, remember what we have done here, and may those who come here to inhabit join us in this Covenant and in this most noble work that the Holy Scriptures may be fulfilled."