Dan works late into the evening with solar power running the
lights and laptop. There is no other choice on the high mountain plain of
Cameroon. He is heading Wycliffe’s cluster project in the village, translating
the Bible into nine different dialects, languages that had no written form
until Dan, with his wife Melody and three kids, initiated the project in 2000.
It is the product of God’s calling in his life.
Meanwhile, halfway around the world, his twin brother Steve also
works late into the evening on his laptop, writing and editing rather than
translating. He pastors a small church in Saskatoon and heads up CSB’s curriculum
update projects: reVISION for Stockade and INNOV8 for Battalion.
Both Dan and Steve are products of their dad’s investment in
ministry. Forty years ago, Bob supported CSB Canada with a monthly donation to the
general fund. For six years, he faithfully provided support while his twin sons
were involved in CSB as boys. He could put a dollar amount on that investment,
but the return on his giving far exceeded anything he imagined, because at God’s
urging, he decided to also invest in his local Regional Director.
The Regional Director helped run several camp programs for
those six years. He was the Captain for one week of Battalion camp for teenage
boys, and he ran the Tree Climber Weekend for fathers and sons for those same years.
During those Battalion camps, he led eight boys to Christ personally, but also
saw 40 other boys make first time decisions with other counsellors. At the first
Tree Climber Weekend, he saw 3 dads rededicate their lives to both God and
their family. Bob knew he had invested well, but the big payoff was yet to
come.
For two of those Tree Climber Weekends, the Regional
Director worked with Bob’s 15-year-old young son, Steve, helping him learn how
to lead camps, tell stories, and lead boys. Steve ended up working for the next
seven summers at Camp Kakeka, the last two as Program Director in charge of
both the camp and counsellor programs. Seven hundred boys each summer were
reached though the camp, with 70 of them making first time decisions for Christ
each year. Bob’s son, in fact both of them, were being “called” to serve the
Lord.
During the time of Bob’s support, the Regional Director
visited 60 units, while maintaining a leadership presence in his own unit as
Captain for four years and Lieutenant for the other two. He participated in
organizing and leading almost 20 Advanced Leadership Training courses, six
Basic Leadership Training courses, helped with some curriculum development, and
worked with five young men who received their Herald of Christ awards. The
Regional Director was involved in Camporees and Shape ‘n Race Derbies, as well
as a host of other activities, all because of Bob, and people just like him.
Now it is today. Bob had to deal with cancer a few years
back, and has back and nerve issues that limit his mobility. While he continues
to support CSB, his only personal involvement in ministry is prayer. He prays
for his wife, kids and grandkids, his church, and all the different things he
has been involved with over the years. CSB get special attention, and the
reasons are plain.
Of those 48 boys who accepted Christ forty years ago, 35 of
them are still actively involved in church, and have led hundreds of their
friends and others to Jesus since then. Six of them are pastors, others are
teachers and businessmen and tradesmen – but they live within a Biblical worldview.
God is part of their lives and conversations.
Of those three Tree Climbers dads, two continue strong in
their faith, and are involved in their churches. The third one passed away ten
years after that weekend; his son became a church leader in his own right.
Of those five Heralds of Christ, two ended up on the foreign
mission field, one is a pastor, one is a schoolteacher, and one is an
entrepreneur. All five are family-oriented men who have worked hard to raise
their kids to stand firm in their faith in Christ.
This year, CSB Canada had display booths at several Missions
Fests, Promise Keepers and ISI conferences, and elsewhere. At those booths, all
kinds of men greeted the Brigade leaders with words like “I was involved with
Stockade when I was a kid” or “I was in Battalion. It was the best time of my
life”. Everywhere the Regional Directors go today they run across these alumni.
And, what of the Regional Director that Bob supported so
long ago? Well, he’s been a businessman for the last twenty years, but for the
last ten, he has been supporting Bob’s son, Steve, whom he worked with at those
two Tree Climber Weekends. Steve is now a CSB Regional Director, himself.
If you asked Bob which investment is bringing him the
greatest reward today, he would look you in the eye and say. “Those six years I
invested in CSB… There is nothing like CSB out there, in the church or
otherwise. It is tremendous.”
For six years of investing in the ministry of CSB Canada,
Bob saw some 3,600 boys hear the Good News of Jesus Christ at camp; thousands
more heard it through the weekly Christian Service Brigade ministry; and
hundreds responded to the call of Christ to follow Him. Countless individuals
continued to grow to be spiritually mature and they are found all over the Church
today. All of those boys became men who are influencing the next generation,
and on and on, multiplying down through the years.
The truth is, when you invest in the ministry of CSB today,
just as Bob does, you are investing in the church of tomorrow. Whether your
support goes to funding the ongoing curriculum updates, the revision of the
Leadership Training materials, or allowing a Regional Director to lead units
and camps, your support will have an effect that will span the generations.
In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul asks Timothy to entrust to faithful
men who will be able to also teach others that which he heard from him in
the presence of many witnesses. That’s four generations: Paul – Timothy – Faith
Men – Others!
Those who invested in CSB when it was founded in 1937, and
planted in Canada in 1943, have received a Return on Investment far greater
than those who joined Apple or Intel when they were founded. The ROI they
received from Brigade reaches forward not just through the generations, but
into eternity. How can you calculate that? You can’t, so instead, take time today
to consider investing, just like Bob, in the work of CSB.
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