We could see the pain rising as destruction and chaos were breaking out across the country. Senseless violence was occurring at the hands of our youth. While the country turned their backs on a clear cry for help, condemning the youth to a general and awful label, we asked a different question. What would our world look like if instead of condemning their bad behavior, we poured love into them and
set their hearts on a mission much greater than themselves? We live in a country where su***de is the 3rd leading cause of death for children ages 10-14. We live in a world where passing a test is more important than learning to provide for your family. Thus, leaving 32 percent of American families struggling and too desperate to provide more than basic needs to their children. While many saw a crisis, we saw an opportunity for change. We started small by helping single mothers who had been evicted by moving their things. We began cleaning up yards of the elderly who couldn’t do it on their own, chopping firewood, and helping our community in any way we could. However, after a while, we were inundated with message after message from the single mothers in our community asking for help in raising their boys into men. It was a call we chose to answer and that is how our Bratiya program began. Bratiya stands for Brothers. Our mission was to find the best-hearted men we could to pour into these little boys and mentor them. After a few successful rounds, many of these young boys became young men who had outgrown the age range for our program but wanted more. They were hungry to keep helping the community. This time, we expanded into High School Revolution where guys and girls from high schools could participate in city-wide cleanup events and compete for prizes. From delivering Christmas trees to families who couldn’t afford it, to cleaning up the city and feeding the homeless, our youth and volunteers poured their hearts into our community. Now, we’re expanding again. Every step of the way our community has supported our expansions through financial efforts or spending their valuable time serving with us. This expansion is called the Spartan Challenge which is curating a new way of life for our youth. Imagine a place where we place God at the center of our lives, we teach our youth to do the same and from there, we build them into leaders. We create jobs for them to begin building skills, we work with young entrepreneurs by building connections with our business owners. The initial youth training is led by qualified veteran, reserve and active military instructors focusing on identity, mindset and fitness. The disciplined fitness approach chips away laziness and mediocrity by creating champions. Imagine a program where youth are trusted to manage teams and in being trusted, they step up to the plate because they finally feel needed and noticed. Imagine our youth going into communities and helping the less fortunate by taking care of their yards, building relationships, and loving on the people who rarely see love. After the Spartan Challenge graduates complete the course, they get placed into teams to begin helping with the restoration of our communities. As they continue with their personal development weekly, they serve in assigned neighborhoods with their teams. The process is simple. They start cleaning up the streets by picking up trash and collecting it into bags which we haul away with us after. Meanwhile identifying graffiti and neglected yards which are investigated and information sent to leadership for a following weekend cleanup once screened and approved. This gives us an ability to remove unwelcomed stains and eye sores the community members wished someone could deal with. This selfless method gives us an ability to meet the neighbors and build meaningful relationships and establish trust. The established trust allows us to find out real needs of single moms, seniors, disabled and struggling families who may be going through a crisis that we can become an answer to. This also gives us the ability to meet other youth looking or wishing to connect and serve others in meaningful ways. Our desire is to see our communities and nation heal and this relationship approach is our God given commission to go out and make disciples of all nations for his glory by serving his people.
