Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Interactive Guide to Stockade

Take A Tour of the Stockade Materials
Take this easy interactive tour of the Stockade materials


Stockade is one of our key ministries helping men in the church disciple boys 3rd through 6th grade.

We are really excited about the new resources for that ministry and want to make sure that you know and understand them.

This interactive presentation guides you through a birds eye view of the stockade material to help you understand a bit better how our resources help equip churches to disciple. 

The guide is really interactive and fun to use. Take a quick look and pass it on to anyone else who might be interested in taking a look as well. 

Take the interactive tour ...

Affirming Parents

Our leaders seek to encourage parents, to involve them with discipling their sons


Relationship building activity is a main ingredient in Brigade Achievement
This is a letter sent by one of our Regional Directors to a local Brigade Leader to encourage him as he seeks to challenge, encourage, and equip the parents in his local church. 

Dear Chris,

I appreciate that you are encouraging parents to support their sons and to give them encouragement from home.  I know what you are dealing with, it’s never an easy road but the parents are key.

I see this now with my grandson, a fourth grader. He’s making progress in his achievement mainly because I take some time most weeks to go over some part of the requirements, a step each week.  As long as he sees I’m interested in working with him, he cooperates.  I doubt if any of it would be done on his own.

Arden Musselman is CSB Regional Director for the Delaware Valley and Capital Regions
And yet that’s the point. We are discipling the boy.  This requires a person, not a system, willing to help make those disciples. And parents need to be affirmed in their God given role of discipling their children. Brigade is there to help in this vital task.  We’ve been telling people that the Brigade achievement program is not about patches, it is a time tested map for discipleship.

I had the immense privilege just today of doing Exploring God’s Word in Blockhouse Two with my grandson.  Did he want to do it right then? No, but once I showed him with

You'll Want to Know Kim Ferri

The kind of passionate and competent woman that makes any organization thrive.


If you are like me then you too will want to skip this staff introduction, but that would be a mistake. I
understand the desire to do so. Honestly, how is that person half way across the continent who you will probably never meet relevant enough to justify the time investment?
Kim's passion for ministry recently took her to do ministry in Zambia
But I realized that you need to know these people not just because they are important members of the growing CSB team, but because they are really really cool people! God has without a doubt brought to us passionate and interesting members of the body of Christ.

It would be a mistake not to take the next minute to learn about Kim Ferri, our Business and Operations Manager. This is the kind of passionate and competent woman that makes any organization thrive.

Here she is in her own words:
“It became very clear to me, very early in my son's life that both my son and my husband not only would benefit from interaction with Godly men but they NEEDED that interaction in order to follow Jesus as God designed. I believe our boys and men in America are so bombarded with emasculating messages that without a ministry like CSB it is near impossible for them to follow Biblical teaching. It was over a decade ago that God put on my heart to help wherever possible my brothers in Christ find a place where they can learn and become who God designed them to be, warriors at heart. As Max Lucado has stated, I paraphrase, "safe communities have Godly men leading them".
I was first approached by Scott Haima almost a year ago to think about how I might be able to serve God and CSB. This past Spring the tugging on my heart became a reality.

My aim is to help CSB operate in the
most efficient, cost effective way possible so that our leaders of men are freed up to disciple. I have a passion for cutting costs and improving operation efficiency and my new role with CSB allows me to do that.

If you are wondering what my responsibilities look like day to day it’s

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Bounce House Conversions



It took a backflip in a bounce house
By Ben Lindly, Stockade Ranger

I was blown away by a story recently from a mother of one of my former Brigade boys. Almost a year ago now we were getting ready for our first annual community party. As a promotion for this event we had an inflatable bouncy house for our first Wednesday night meeting. During the course of jumping around a Sophomore attempted a back flip (which you aren't supposed to do in those) and he landed with the full weight of his body on his neck. His neck was sore but he did not tell anyone.

From Falling to Fumbling

A story of a father picking up his fumble
By Scott Haima, CSB Regional Director
 
CSB has been partnering for the last several years with the Iron Sharpens Iron Ministry to sponsor Equipping Conferences for men. I was privileged to lead a team of men to launch a new conference this past month in Rochester New York with an attendance of 504 men all thirsty to hear the word of God and to be challenged and equipped to run with endurance the race to which we’ve been called. I opened the conference with a verse and challenge.

"Therefore, brothers, be diligent to confirm your calling and election,  For if you practice these things, you will never fall."  1 Peter 2:10

I then related falling to fumbling - that we as husbands, fathers, men - fumble and drop the ball often.  When a running back is prone to fumbling, the coach sometimes makes him carry it all day, during classes, lunch - and never put it down.  So I asked one man from each age  group who came to this conference with the intention to gain the tools necessary to stop fumbling in a specific area of his life to come up and take the ball.  Before I introduced our speaker I gently asked for the balls back at the end of the conference.  When I went to the back, one of the men came up to me and asked if he could keep the football. He told me that he has a 12 year old son and he has dropped the ball and hasn't been in his a life in any significant way.  He wants to be back in his life and to be the Dad he needs to be.  His son came to the conference with him, and they had a great reconciliation day and he asked for the football as a reminder.  I was almost in tears, and said of course he can keep it!

The revivals that last don’t begin with eruptions of emotion. They begin like this, with one father hearing the gospel call and responding by turning his heart toward his son. Please pray for this man and the countless men like him who now know they have fumbled the ball and desire in the strength that God gives to run with endurance the race that has been set before him.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Webinar Training Videos

The training videos below are great resources for training new men and for sharpening your skills no matter how many years you've been leading a CSB ministry in your church.

Brigade Principles: Will help you grasp the core vision of CSB Ministries - discipleship. Without this concept being carried forward, you are "just running another program." Click here to view

Stockade Leadership:  Will cover the elements of the Stockade meeting and achievement, and will include the all new Stockade materials. Click here to view

Battalion Leadership: Will cover the elements of the Battalion meeting, achievement, and leadership development. Click here to view

reVision Update

Please note that we believe the dates below to be accurate but that they may change. This is to be
Draft Cover of the New Trail Guide
used as a helpful guideline but contact your Regional Director if you have any questions.

Also, if you are a man with expertise in a particular interest area and would like to see that interest area developed into a module please contact us. We'd love to consider your ideas!

BrigadeConnection@csbministries.org


Current Revision Schedule:
Modules re-edited and reprinted, including the Outpost Adventures and new covers (available in store - at the printer August 9):
  • Flight (Faith)
  • Team Sports (The Church)
  • Bikes & Boards (Friends)
  • Woodworking (Holiness)
The four core Achievement guides are currently being redesigned and should be at the printers by Tuesday, August 27:
  • Builder Trails 1
  • Builder Trails 2
  • Sentinel Trails 1
  • Sentinel Trails 2
The following modules are completed and are in the cue for final draft and design (once the core books are done):

Saturday, August 17, 2013

CSB growing in Zambia!

View the pictures I took

God is moving on the African Continent


For the past 4 years directors passionate about Brigade's message of discipling men, have traveled yearly to the beautiful country of Zambia to work with the incredible men serving in Christian ministry there at the invitation of a missions  organization that saw the need for a ministry to men and CSB's unique ability to meet that need.

The first three years have been spent in building a network of pastors, establishing relationships, and casting a vision alongside local Zambian churches for how the ministry could look in a Zambian culture. This year's goal was to begin to train the trainers so that what has become known as the "EAGLES" ministry could begin to grow vibrantly and organically in the hands of Zambian leaders. Below is a short summary of their trip. We are speechless at what God chose to do, far exceeding our wildest expectations!



"Ron Rynd, Norm Tacklind, Harold Browne and I returned August 1st to Zambia to assist churches there in their ministries to men and boys. Our goal this time was not only to train new men and assist new churches in starting EAGLES programs, but also to begin to establish a Zambian leadership team that would be able to take the reigns of the ministry. The trip certainly had it's trials and difficulties, beginning with a leadership meeting that did not produce any of the results we had hoped for. I was scheduled to lead this key training session that we had come for but in a frustrating twist of providence ended up getting hospitalized with an infection the night before my session. Yes ... in a Zambian Hospital! As you might imagine that's a whole other story but you can see some pictures here

The men who took my place came back home deflated having accomplished nothing of what we had hoped. Maybe we've learned something of how God works by now because we chose not lose hope. God waited until the the last day of our 3-day training conference where we  spontaneously decided to challenge the men there with the leadership content we'd tried earlier in the week with the other men. We were blown away by the men's response and the ownership they took of the ministry!  

By the end of day three committees had been formed a the urging of the Zambian attendees, made up of all Zambian men: an administrative committee, a curriculum development committee and a leadership training committee. For those of you not familiar with much of African culture this initiative and ownership of the ministry is often unusual. What an encouragement to see such progress in the Zambian ministry!

Praise the Lord for bringing the men this far. Please continue to pray for the leaders in Zambia. While we were sad to leave, we were greatly encouraged by what we saw while there and we are confident that the Lord is using this ministry to strengthen men and boys in Zambia.

Serving Christ with you,
Brian Stebick

I was Sure I'd Made an Enemy

Summer Camp Can Be A Strange Place
More proof  that boys desire men to challenge them to be men of God


I learned quickly that “intense” was not a big enough word to properly describe Carson. Nope, I discovered Carson’s intensity early and uncomfortably during the second game we played at our Southern California boys camp. Apparently the only tools you need to squeeze the character of a boy are a few well aimed balls and the promise of dodgeball glory that rests like a crown upon the head of the last boy standing.

Carson is one of those 12 year old guys that is so naturally athletic that it’s nauseating. His blond frame is not big, but he’s all muscle, and every one of those muscles seems to know exactly what it should be doing and where it should be at just the right time. Throwing ... check. Catching ... Check. Contorting one’s body like a character in the “Matrix” who has fallen right from the pages of fiction and into our dodgeball court ... Check.

The problem with Carson was not his ability to control his body ... it was his unwillingness to control his temper.

Intensity is Good. Unbridled anger erupting from his mouth and scorching the other members of civil society around him was unacceptable. I also know that if left to take root this kind of anger produces husbands and fathers who disciple their families straight into a living hell by filling their homes and the hearts of those trapped within its walls with hopeless fear. The bruised souls and faces of women and children are just the fruit of the violence practiced when men were boys playing games. Games are training for life. Games reveal and they teach. And I was not about to allow this weed to begin growing in my presence without at least some attempt to weed it out while it was still small ... ish.

I called him out and warned him that he needed to immediately bring his anger under control or he’d end the game as a spectator rather than a victor. Either he didn’t believe me, or he forgot, or he just couldn’t help himself, but I only had time to take a few breaths and he’d already exploded in anger all over the court again.

His look of shock and hot indignation was almost laughable when it finally registered that I was serious that he’d be sitting the rest of that game. He threw the balls he held in his hands down in undisguised disgust. As he walked over to me I think it was only my relative size advantage that spared me from an untimely death. He was the kind of angry that can only be given birth by surging testosterone stoked into fury by a misplaced sense that a grievous injustice was being perpetrated upon his 12 year old person.

My heart sank. I knew he’d be upset but it was clear that more was at stake. I had just made an enemy. Any possibility of building a relationship with him was gone. His heart was now closed to my voice. I didn’t show it but I was really sad. I stood on the hillside. He sat at my feet about 6 feet away, breathing deeply, seething, and avoiding any eye contact. At that point I stopped paying attention to the game and I began to pray.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

A lesson from the garden: Don't Overwater

By Bob Nass

Pastor of Youth and Missions and Chief Ranger at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Yakima WA


Wendy and I love to garden and we've been enjoying the fruit of our labor this summer immensely.  One of the things that we've had to learn the hard way is how important it is to avoid over watering our plants.

You see, seedlings need a lot of water in the first few days of their lives, but after a few days or weeks they need to be be intentionally stressed or the plants develop all kinds of problems.  Over the years we've seen our share of blossom end rot and yellowed plants that have not thrived.  We've also had plants that have grown delightfully well, but when the wind blew or the intense heat came, things went south fast because they could not handle stress after being stress free for so long.

If you have not read "A Nation of Wimps" by Hara Estroff Marano, please do so today.  She makes an incredible case against over watering our kids that I think we all can learn from.

"Parents are going to ludicrous lengths to take the bumps out of life for their children. However, parental hyperconcern has the net effect of making kids more fragile; that may be why they're breaking down in record numbers."

Monday, August 12, 2013

Big Training Announcement for CSB Churches in North America

To sign up for the training webinar:
http://www.csbministries.org/site/webinar.  

You can view the training videos anytime online here

----------------------------

Saturday, August 24th, 2013

Plan now to have your leadership team meet together for this premier event. Our desire is to have all current and new churches participate.
  
Broadcast sessions will include...
  
Brigade Principles:
  • 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon EDT + ½ hour Q&A
  • This session will help you grasp the core vision of CSB Ministries - discipleship. Without this concept being carried forward, you are "just running another program."
Stockade Leadership:
  • 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. + ½ hour Q&A
  • This session will cover the elements of the Stockade meeting and achievement, and will include the all new Stockade materials.
Battalion Leadership:
  • 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. + ½ hour Q&A
  • This session will cover the elements of the Battalion meeting, achievement, and leadership development.
All participants will better grasp the foundational dynamics of CSB Ministries. Brigade leaders will

Friday, June 14, 2013

Excerpts from "Bringing Up Boys": James Dobson Discusses the Importance of Single Gender Mentoring

James Dobson Discusses the Importance of Single Gender Mentoring. Take a look
Why a gender specific ministry?   

In this compilation of clips Dr. James Dobson points out what used to be taken for granted, that girls are different than boys in the face of a culture that has adopted the attitude espoused by Gloria Steinem only a few decades ago that "we need to have the courage to raise our boys like girls"  

He asks the question "Is masculinity good or bad?" and points out that boys are men in training and that only men can adequately prepare boys to become men.

There's some great clips here, we hope you are edified as you watch.


An interview with Brian Dawson: Husband, Father, Associate Dean and our Newest U.S. Board Member!



Brian is one of three generations impacted by CSB

Brian Dawson is now one of three generations of men who have been influenced dramatically by the ministry of CSB and we are pleased to announce that he has been unanimously approved as the newest member of the U.S. Board.

We are excited about the important perspective he brings as well as his deep experience with Alumni care and the creation of internships. His expertise gained in these areas as a university dean, now serving at Pepperdine University, will be invaluable.

I have personally had the privilege of knowing the Dawson family for almost 25 years. I remember Dick, Brian’s father, who led a sailing camp of which I was a part. He was one of those guys who is memorable yet unassuming. Little did I guess so many years ago that I would have the chance to lead trips with Dick’s son, and would then have a chance to influence his grandson, Drake, as a Junior Counselor. The Dawsons are a great example of the inter-generatio
nal nature of our ministry.

Below are some excerpts from a phone conversation I had with Brian. I hope that this short interchange helps you to get to know Brian a bit better as well as the exciting direction that the board is now moving CSB. 

Dave: Tell me a bit about your family and your role as an associate Dean at Pepperdine University
Brian: I’ve been married 20 years this summer and have 2 children. As a student in college I felt the Lord calling us into some sort of campus ministry so our first step post college was to start a young men's bible study for a Christian fraternity which ultimately led me into student housing as a career. I spent 17 years in the state school system but began to feel a real desire to do work and ministry together which was impossible working in a secular system. God graciously opened up an opportunity to become an associate Dean at Pepperdine University which finally has allowed us do both evangelism and discipleship as a part of my job, a two-fold ministry very similar to what I experienced growing up in CSB.

Dave: How did you get involved with CSB?
Brian: Like a lot of boys I was invited by a friend. The first man I can remember was Charlie Peck. I remember that he was a plumber who loved the Lord. I still remember many of the principles he taught me but mostly I knew that he loved the boys he served and had a ton of fun with us. Shortly after I started, my dad also got involved and worked in both stockade and battalion. Every man in my family was an Eagle Scout. I’m the only one in my generation to have the honor of being a Herald of Christ.

Dave: How would you describe yourself when you were a young man?
Brian:I would say when I was in stockade and Jr. High I felt like I was a nerd and was kinda on the outside of the social loop. But I always felt like Brigade was a place I was welcome, where everyone was involved. As a high schooler  I was rebellious and had issues with authority. I think the Battalion achievements actually helped give me focus and was a program that I was committed to that helped keep me on track.

Dave: What roll did CSB play in your growth as a follower of Jesus?
Brian: I came into the program already knowing Jesus Christ but what Brigade did was to give me disciplines that are still with me today like getting me into The Word regularly through achievements and squad meetings. Scripture memory became an important part of my walk. I remember one Camporal we quoted more than 60 verses. We had to encourage each other since the lowest number of verses is what  counted. I think that’s kind of amazing for a bunch of high school guys to quote that many verses in one weekend many I can still quote to this day. 
Brigade also provided good role models, both men and my peers. In my time there were 7 or 8 Heralds of Christ at my church in my 6 years of battalion. These were kids to look up to and

A Pastor's Perspective: Why churches are taking a second look at CSB

 "Our church was looking for a ministry to partner with that could aid us in our goal to disciple the boys and young men in our church and that could emphasize our desire for outdoor education.  

There was only one ministry that I could find that not only met the spiritual & biblical criteria, but exceeded my expectations in all of these areas combined ... Christian Service Brigade. Its emphasis on service, leadership and discipleship, all centered around the Lord Jesus Christ, makes this a one-of-a-kind ministry. The spiritual, personal and practical investment in the lives of our young people should be a responsibility that we take seriously as both parents and church leaders.  

I believe God has graciously sustained and blessed Christian Service Brigade, for such a time as this."

--Pastor Greg Landers

If you think your church might benefit from working with CSB we'd love to talk with you about the possibility. BrigadeConnection@csbministries.org 

Friday, May 17, 2013

Pictures of the move and renovation

Take a look at some pictures of the move to our new headquarter location in Hamburg, NY and the renovation of our new building.

Successfully Encouraging Young Men To Love God's Word

By Marvin Job and Don Reddick
Helping young men learn to love reading the Word of God.

Long Time Battalion Leaders

For years I tried to get our Battalion boys to spend regular time discovering God’s Word.  It was hard to get them to become self-motivated.   One day during our council ring a guest speaker, a doctor, used as an illustration “See One, Do One, Teach One”. He explained that during procedure training they are shown how to do a procedure, and then they are expected to do the same procedure and finally they are expected to teach the procedure to someone else.   Don and I both loved this saying.  See One, Do One, Teach One
 
One day after Don and I were talking about how to get our boys into a regular bible time with God and how they could better open God’s Word up to their squads we thought we should try a reading program that a pastor in our church had introduced to our congregation that both of us took hold of and used regularly. The program is called VINE, which is an acrostic and stands for Verse, Insight, Next Step, and Expression. Knowing about our reading program VINE time and even doing it did not solve our problem with the boys . As I mentioned before Don and I both loved the saying  “See One, Do One, Teach One”. We decided to put this saying together with our VINE time which gave us tremendous results and accomplished more than we could have expected.

We started meeting with our Corporals and Lance Corporals at Starbucks on Monday morning from 7:00am till 7:50am. The young men got to Starbucks by parents, by our vehicles, or some of the older boys drove themselves. We even had one young man run over a mile as he missed his ride. Early in the morning before school was the only time that all of the boys could meet without being in conflict with other activities. The only thing they missed out on was sleep. Starbucks seemed like a great place to meet. Not only was it a place where we could be a witness for God, it was also a place where the boys could get food and drink without having to clean up after themselves. It became an adventure each week seeing what kind of exotic drinks the boys would buy.

During our VINE time we all read the same chapter from a book in the Bible that we were working through. After we read through the chapter each boy was asked to share one verse, or a word that popped out at him. We let them each explain to the rest of us why he chose that word or verse. There was never a bad answer and in fact sometimes the boys brought to us a question about what he read rather than an observation. After everyone shared we would then as a group sum up and agree to a point of action that we could all apply to our day ahead.
As time went on the boys became better and better at pulling insights from God’s Word. Once we were finished we then drove them to their various schools. During our meeting on the following Wednesday night we had the corporals use the same passage that we studied on Monday to use in leading their squad time.
  
The corporals saw Don and I doing it, they did it, and then they taught it. Now you have the Brigadiers see it from their corporals, as they get older they will do it at our vine time Monday mornings and then they end up leading it in squad times in future years. As long as we have diligent leaders the cycle continues.
 
We found that with very little or no prep our Corporals could lead their squad in a bible study during squad time. The VINE time became our primary focus during our squad meetings however we do change it up to keep variety in our meeting times. We do not want our program to get stagnant and just something we run through every week.

If you are interested and want more information about our VINE readings take a look.
  
Respectfully submitted,

Don Reddick and Marvin Job
Battalion 2236

Our "Moving" Renovation: Update on the move to the Buffalo area

Assist with our renovation
Moving 558 miles to our new digs near Buffalo N.Y. from Wheaten Illinois, where we were firmly rooted for 75 years, has been something of a herculean task. But God's hand of blessing has been clear. Here are some encouraging answers to prayer that have continued to confirm that this move was indeed the right direction:

  • A significant portion of the HVAC system (originally quoted to cost between $2000-$3000) ended up only costing a total of $100 for a condenser and a box of sheet metal screws. This is due entirely to generous donations!
  • Even after the city issued a stop-work order causing us to lose two weeks we were able to get the warehouse finished on schedule!
  • The Store and new warehouse are now up and running!
  • People have been coming out of the woodwork to bless us with time and materials. Thanks in particular to Ken Fimbel for doing almost all the carpentry and drywall and to Jim Kubik who did all the electrical!

We can use all sorts of help if you have time, materials or financial resources to assist with our renovation.

View our current renovation needs ...

Opportunities to serve and give: Renovation Project List

The move to the buffalo, NY area is really exciting. The building that we will be occupying in itself is a gift that is evidence of God's hand in this exciting move. But there are vital projects that must take place in order to make the new facility an effective place of ministry.

Please take a quick look and if God has blessed wyou with the ability to offer time, materials or money to the completionm of these projects we woudl be really greatful.

Feel free to contact us with any questions at BrigadeConnection@csbministries.org

Estimated Costs:
Warehouse electrical: $200 
Warehouse carpentry and door: $300 
Warehouse storage space: $350 
Warehouse fixtures: $200 
Office Electrical: $400 
Drywall: $1,000 
New HVAC system: $1,500 
Paint: $600 
Network and servers: $400 
Carpet: $500 
Roof repair: $500 
Miscellaneous construction: $400 
Debris/garbage removal: $400 
Driveway drainage: $450 
House and Grounds: $500

Grand Total: $7,700

Thank you for Considering the sponsorship of one of the above projects.

If you can give financially you can give quickly online or please make checks payable to:
CSB Ministries
Mail to:
CSB Ministries
PO Box 1010
Hamburg, NY 14075

Cars and Trucks: The Latest reVision module

Helping men teach boys biblical stewardship
We are continuing to develop new modules for our Stockade age boys. The Cars and Trucks module is designed to help men disciple boys in understanding the importance God places on being stewards of all that God has entrusted to us.

Helping the boy answer questions like why he should a boy take responsibility for stuff, whether it's his stuff or somebody else's, this module is about teaching a boy to care about maintaining his car, his house, his computer, himself, and anything else that he comes to be responsible for. By using this to teach about fixing things, we teach him a fundamental principle of life.

This principle is contained in Proverbs 27:23-24 "You should take good care of your sheep and goats, because wealth and honor don't last forever."

Take a look at one of the stories in this module ...


Ready to Win 
by H. G. Pike

It was a terrific accident. Comin’ out of Turn Three, one car hit the marbles, touched another and both went crashing into the wall. One car blew into a thousand pieces. The other, well, when it stopped spinning, there wasn’t much left other than the driver’s cockpit. I had just made up my dropped lap when it happened near the back of the pack. Immediately, the Caution Flag came out. I slowed down, dropped to the apron and avoided the debris. There were pieces of car everywhere, but the two drivers were waving to the crowd as I drove by. Who said car racing wasn’t exciting?


This was the big race. Thirty cars had qualified – mine included, but I was dead last. I guess I was just happy enough to have qualified, ‘cause I’d never done that before. And, it was just as well. I wasn’t anywhere near the big crash at the start the race. Man, Somebody was watchin’ out for me that day.


Now, here we were with 28 laps left to go and only ten cars left in the race. I was gonna have a Top-Ten finish, but if I kept my head, maybe I’d be first. Right then, I had to catch up to the pack. The radio squawked to life. “Hey, Buddy.” It was my Crew Chief. “You might as well cool your jets. It looks like it’s going to be a long caution. They’re saying the track’s pretty chewed-up. Ya may be finishing under a Yellow Flag.”

Brigade Basics: Tell me briefly about CSB ...

What is CSB about?
I was chatting with Gord Banman, our Regional Director who has been serving stalwartly in Winnipeg Manatoba for many years. He didn't realize it but as we were just chatting my eyes kept getting wider as nugget after nugget of brilliance and wisdom kept falling from his lips. One


of the many things he said that impressed me and that I wanted to share with you was a simple summary of what our ministry is all about. Here's a simple way of describing the Basics of Brigade:
  1. Christ centered
  2. Bible Based
  3. Church Oriented
  4. Led by Men
  5. For the purpose of discipleship
Bright and Keen For Christ,

Dave Gregg