My Little Brothers

Let me explain about that. When there were only a few dozen, we used to say, "We have the same Father". That still left some people wondering. The truth is that we do have the same "Heavenly Father", but different parents.

It all started in 1966. One of my closest friends and I started to meet together for prayer on Saturday mornings. We had a commitment to help each other grow spiritually. Because David was younger than I, he was my "little brother". The following year while in college, I developed the same kind of relationship with an underclassman, who just happened to be named David. So, I now had 2 little brothers. A year later, I met a teenager who was going through the normal teenage problems, and we agreed that it would be nice for him to have a big brother. So, Frank became #3. The fourth year I got another one, who happened to be another David.

Things were getting too routine, one new brother a year for four years. I didn't plan on changing that, but the Lord did. In the autumn of 1969, a bunch of teens who had been at a youth camp that summer, asked to have charge of a Sunday morning service in their church. They had the service in which they sang, gave their testimonies, and one of them spoke. At the end of the service, they gave an invitation, and many people responded. It was the start of something.

That same day, in the evening service of a different church, two teens spoke about their summer experiences. One was my first little brother who had spent the summer as a counsellor at a Christian camp. His younger brother had spent the summer doing missions work in Mexico. Their testimonies really touched the hearts of many in the service, and an invitation was given for people who wanted to be used by the Lord. I went forward and asked the Lord to use me.

A few days later, I learned about the service that had occurred that Sunday morning. During prayer, the Lord spoke to me about helping to unite the teens in the area to plan for a youth outreach for the following summer. We began to meet, and got to know other Christian teens. One of those teens was a guy who had lost his father recently, and I really felt impressed by the Lord to break the one brother per year routine, and get another little brother. So, Denny became #5. During 1970, there was much happening with the teens of the Millersburg area. As teens gathered together for prayer in smaller groups, and sometimes in one large group, other Christian teens were encouraged to come out of the closet, and become a part of what was happening. As they started to witness to their classmates and teachers, others came to know the Lord as their Savior and Lord.

Well, in the next few years, I got many new little brothers. No, not all of the Christian guys were my little brothers, only those that I really felt led to spend the extra time with.

Out of that youth revival that hit our area, a witnessing team started to travel to other churches in other towns to share their testimonies, sing, and invite others to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. One of the men in our community called us The Ignition System because "these kids get things started". The name stuck. Out of The Ignition System, three of us started a Gospel trio which we named The Vigilaires. It later became a quartet, and then back to the original trio. During the time I traveled with The Ignition System, and during the 6 1/2 years that I was part of The Vigilaires, I picked up some more brothers from the churches where we ministered.

Also, some of my little brothers were also seeing the need for a discipleship ministry to new Christians, and they became big brothers, too. Some of the brothers got little sisters, too. I got three of them, but I felt led to keep my ministry to the guys. There were some girls in the group who got involved in discipleship among themselves, too.

In the mid 70's, I also got involved with Greater Harrisburg Youth for Christ, and some of the little brothers were gotten through there. Over the past 31 years, the brothers have come from different areas, different backgrounds, and with different needs. I usually didn't know what role I might play in their lives when I got them, but usually over the years, I can see there was a reason why God asked me to be a big brother to each of them.

For a few years, I didn't do much as far as new brothers, but a few years ago, I started getting new little brothers. And again, each one is a unique individual.

The Brotherhood, as we call ourselves, is not affiliated with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. It's just something that I've done on my own, as the Lord led me. Whatever activities we did, the costs of it came out of our own pockets (many times mine).

There is a closeness between the brothers that still exists. I've lost contact with some of them, and I know that at least one of them is dead. Every winter several of us get together for a retreat. We've been to four different camps over the 30 years of our retreats. Some of the brothers only get to see each other during the retreat. A few years ago, some of the brothers began to bring along their sons who were 12 or older. It's been a great way of sharing with them what has happened in our lives, and why we call each other "brother". A few summers ago, we did something different. We had a camping weekend for the wives and families, too. It was a great time. There were four families present, plus me. It rained on Friday evening, but since we needed the rain, we didn't complain. We just gathered under my 20 x 20 canopy, played games, and just enjoyed each other's company. Of course, while I was gone for a few hours on Saturday evening, some of those present had fun decorating my tent with toilet paper, etc.

Please pray that God will continue to lead me as I attempt to be a Christian influence to younger Christian guys as a big brother. Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and make disciples, not to ourselves, but to Him. That's what The Brotherhood is all about.