The History of GBB

Here's a portion of an e-mail I received from a dear man regarding his history with one of the founders of Grace Brethren Boys, Pastor Ed Jackson. He returned one of the gold belt buckles that was given him many years ago as a token of appreciation. He felt GBB would appreciate having it back as it has a lot of meaning for him and for GBB.

"As a young boy I accepted the Lord as my personal Saviour in 1944 at the Brethren Church in Long Beach, Californina. Many years later the Lord brought together an L.A. Fire Dept. Captain and a Ohio State Highway Patrol Lieutenant (Ed Jackson) to travel across the U.S. encouraging men in the Grace Brethren Church to be involved for the Lord. The Boys ministry was a natural for men so we encouraged others to be involved. Somewhere along the line this buckle was presented to me."

I'm so thankful for the history of GBB: men, strong in their faith, molding younger men into strong believers and trusted leaders, then passing the torch so those young men can continue the cycle of discipleship. God has placed each of the men involved with GBB over the years in a position to fulfill his commands to disciple younger men.

Thank you God for the men who pour their lives into young men so they may see the contrast between a worldly man and a godly man. Thank you God for the opportunities you've given us in GBB! Thank you Lord for the boys who are so teachable and desire to have a relationship with you. Thank you Lord for the hearts you've broken and thank you God for the boys you bring us that still have a long way to go. Amen.

What a trip!

If you haven't already checked it out - go to www.gbbnational.com and check out some of the High Adventure Pics! We had a great week, full of unexpected twists and turns. If you were there, and took pictures, please make sure you send them to Jeff on the website so he can get them uploaded to share. All of my pics are also on my facebook if you're interested in seeing more from the week.

Jeff did a great job, as did Pastor Bob, in writing up what we did. Check out the web site for the details of the week! My favorite part was the morning and evening discussion times. It was cool to see how the 10 minute discussion on Monday morning transformed into 30 minutes on Friday morning. The boys and men really stepped outside themselves for the week and I pray that each of us can carry that over into our own units, churches and communities.

And amazingly enough - there were no unexpected baptisms by canoe.