Meridian church home to life-changing ministry of men

BELLINGHAM, WA – The Christ the King Church in the Meridian neighborhood draws men from all over the Whatcom County, from 41 churches, every Tuesday night at 6 p.m., all for the Band of Brothers for Christ, according to founder and executive director Raul Chavez.

            According to Chavez, what started out as a bible study group in Chavez’s home in 2004, Band of Brothers for Christ has grown into an all male ministry that hosts 180–200 men each week and have a list of 1,300 men who have participated at one point or another.

            “We don’t do anything crazy, or try to get men to think a certain way, we come to share our experiences,” said Chavez. “We make ourselves available every Tuesday of the year, no matter the weather or the holiday, we are here.”

            Band of Brothers for Christ may be reaching out to men all over the county, but Chavez said it has played a direct role in the immediate community in Meridian neighborhood, and that local stores and businesses often send men over to band of Brothers for Christ, or at least spread the word.

            “It gives everyone in the area a sense of community knowing there is help, it gives a sense of hope for the hopeless,” said Chavez. “It’s not a place to get judged or condemned, but to know you aren’t alone.”

            According to Chavez, Band of Brothers for Christ is not officially part of Christ the King Church because, when he moved the group to the church, he wanted to be able to attract men looking to face their challenges, regardless of their faith or church affiliation. 

            For member Jack Duran, he said he needed a safe place where he could be real, a place for broken men like him. Band of Brothers for Christ has become that place.

            “I was a bad guy, a hard core biker, but I turned into a warrior for Christ,” Duran said. “I went from the guy you would see crossing the street to the guy who would help you cross the street.”

            According to Duran, every experience each week is different. Some are happy, and funny, and some will be sad and serious, all depending on the speaker for that night.

            Everything Band of Brothers for Christ does is Christ related, but according to Duran, members also often help out with charity and go caroling in the neighborhood around Christmas time.

           

            Chavez said he chose to keep the Band of Brothers all male because he wants to use it as a way to reach out specifically to men, and give them a place to share their experiences, however dark, and has found from his own experience that men open up more with other men. He hopes he has created an environment where they can discuss things that may not be appropriate for a Sunday morning sermon.

            Band of Brothers for Christ serves a free meal with each meeting, a barbeque with salad and ice cream. This way, it helps attract more people, and allows men to come straight from work, according to Chavez.

            “I want to fight for the families. I want to get the dad’s heart, then that will bring in the family’s heart, then the community changes,” said Chavez. “I believe that communities can change, and if I can get to the families, then change can happen.”

            Band of Brothers for Christ is an important part of the community by giving men a fellowship that helps keep them out of trouble, according to member Tony Rinas.

            “It has got me to open up with other guys of the same belief, and it gives me a place of support and something to hold me accountable,” Rinas said.

            Though Chavez speaks at every Band of Brothers for Christ meeting, he is adamant in saying it is not about him, and that is partly why he brings in a guest speaker every week.

            “It’s not about me, it’s about the men coming every week, and that’s what keeps me motivated,” said Chavez. “From the homeless and formerly incarcerated to the doctors and all the men in between, it’s given me inspiration and desire, it’s changed my life.”

            According to Chavez, guest speakers range from brothers and members within the ministry to local pastors who can come and share their experiences and teachings in their own way.

            Chavez said consistency is important, and there is a core group of guys who come to every meeting. He understands that not everyone can make it to every meeting, and that men have commitments to their family and work.

            Duran said that the Band of Brothers for Christ has become an extremely important to his life, and that he doesn’t schedule anything on Tuesday nights and that his friends and coworkers know he is unavailable those nights. He guessed that in the past three years, he has missed maybe four Band of Brothers for Christ meetings, at most.

           

            “It’s given me a chance where I get to exhale,” Duran said. “It’s changed the lives of many men.”

Meridian mattress company giving back to community

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -Sleep Country mattress store located on Meridian Street is using pajamas to help give back to its community and has partnered with local nonprofit Blue Skies For Children for their annual Pajama Drive helping foster kids.

            From now until February 26, the public can drop off new pajamas and  packaged socks and underwear at the Sleep Country store and, unique to the Northwest program, materials donated in the Bellingham location will stay in the local county, according to Sleep Country Foster Kids spokesman Jarrett Tomalin.

            Pajamas are “very essential, night time is a scary time, and having a new pair of pajamas helps the transition for foster kids,” Tomalin said.

            According to Tomalin, Bellingham donations are able to stay within Whatcom County because of the company’s partnership with Bellingham’s Blue Skies For Children, a local nonprofit organization.

            “It’s definitely an essential part of the community,” Tomalin said. “The more the community puts into it, the more the local foster children receive.”

            According to the Blue Skies For Children website, it was founded in 1997 and its mission is “to raise hope and self-esteem by sponsoring enrichment programs and other essentials for homeless, low-income and foster children in Whatcom and Skagit Counties.”

            “We have contact with case workers and supervisors who contact the local foster homes and families and they come to us,” said Julie Guay, the executive director for Blue Skies For Children.

            Guay said every single donation drive is important, as there are six through Sleep Country, and sometimes it is easier for people to donate pajamas instead of money because clothing is a tangible item they can physically donate.

            “Foster kids go from home to home, lose things and outgrow them,” Guay said. “Kids grow so fast it’s a continual dive and it’s important for the kids to have pajamas keeping them warm and safe”

            “It helps make them comfortable in their new home,” Tomalin said.

            Nearly half of foster children do not return to their original family, and foster children average three different placements, according to the Sleep Country website.

            Guay said that while the Pajama Drive is doing well, it usually doesn’t do as well as the Sleep Country Coat and Toy drives because of the holiday season.

            Guay said the Coat and Toy drives are during the holiday season, when people are out shopping anyway and in the giving spirit, while the Pajama Drive is right after the end of the holiday season, when people aren’t spending as much money.

            “Each year the drive is different, and we are hoping in 2012 the Pajama Drive response is more than last year,” Guay said.

            Sleep Country employee Mark Henderson said the Meridian store receives good support from the community.

            “I personally think it is absolutely vital, on a scale of one to ten, it’s a ten,” Henderson said. “Any business is a business of the community.”

            The Meridian Sleep Country can get several pajama donations a day, or go sometimes four to five days without a donation, according to Henderson.

            According to Tomalin, last year’s Pajama Drive had in increase in 500 pajamas donated and “Bellingham is doing great.”

            In 2011, all of the Sleep Country stores brought in over 4,300 pairs of pajamas, while 2010 brought in 3,800 pairs, according to Tomalin. The Sleep Country Foster Kids Pajama Drive began in 2005.

            According to Henderson, people don’t necessarily have to use Sleep Country as their donation center.

            “Anybody can host a drive, just set goals and raise money,” he said.

            According to the Sleep Country website, someone who hosts their own Pajama Drive for their friends and family can then either drop off their total donations at Sleep Country, or call and have the store arrange a truck to come pick up the clothing.

            “While we collect pajamas at all Sleep Country locations,” Tomalin said, “we often have people host their own drives, such as athletic teams and churches.”

            Each year, the Northwest has over 10,000 new kids enter the foster care system, according to the Sleep Country website. Foster kids also experience four times as many emotional problems as their fellow peers.