WE FEW, WE HAPPY FEW, WE BAND OF BROTHERS

The Leadership.  There are no full-time employees or staff in the Band of Brothers' Ministry – (except for our paid staff at our Bear Trap Ranch retreat center) - we are primarily volunteers who have united together for a common cause. The ministry is led by a group of men who desire to direct all the focus and glory on Jesus Christ our Lord and King. We would not even provide our names, except that we are the ones who should be held accountable for the content of this site and the administrative aspects of this ministry.  We agree with the words of Paul, "We don't go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us." (2 Cor. 4:5) This ministry will never be built around the personality of one person – except for the person of Christ. That being said, we also are not trying to hide.

The Team

Although there are about 15-20 men locally here in Colorado Springs who join us regularly in this adventure we call “Band of Brothers,” here are the three core members of the volunteer leadership team. Vance Brown (in the middle): husband, father, founder, speaker and author of the book, No Matter the Cost. Pete Gannon (on the left): husband, father, head of a video production company – Next Direction – and the technical guru for Band of Brothers. Matt Dealy (on the right): husband, father, Executive Director for Foundation of the Heart (the legal entity that covers Band of Brothers) and facilitator/retreat coordinator/adventure director for Band of Brothers. 

We have an incredible team of people working for us at Bear Trap Ranch. Our onsite Director of all camp operations is Chris Miller. We were so blessed to have Chris and his wife Amy as caretakers and stewards of this Sacred Property, and they have been the life-blood and backbone of all good things at Bear Trap since joining us. Joining Chris & Amy in keeping this 90 year old ranch running is our incredibly talented Manager of Facilities, Conner Dealy. Our amazing cook and Food Services Manager is Tom Doeling. Erin Green is our wonderful Office Manager who also heads up Hospitality and Housekeeping. God has been so good to our organization in providing these highly talented people who love Jesus and have committed to the Kingdom service that happens year round at Bear Trap Ranch.

Additionally, Brad Argue manages our websites, Britt Jones manages our Online Community Site, NoMatterTheCost.org, and Online Store, and we have an advisory and accountability board. Banded together, we all are in the trenches of life just as you are, and we know what it means to be engaged in the battles of life! But we refuse to fight alone!  We understand that we should be held accountable for the content in our site and how we lead our lives, our families, and this ministry. If you are a follower of Christ and have any concerns with the content on this site, please contact us.  Our desire is to be used by God to help "unite the clans" of Christ.  Please join us and allow us to serve you!

Some Core Values

We want to share a couple of core values of our Ministry that we hope will be helpful. First, we do not want this Ministry to be centered on any one personality – other than the personality of Jesus Christ. We are not asking anyone to make a “NO MATTER THE COST” covenant to follow anyone except Christ our King. He is the only one worthy of such a commitment. We believe what we are doing is too important to trust to any individual personality! As the core leadership of this Ministry, we know that we could be taken out and thereby disqualified to serve in these capacities. But that would not change the truth of what our Triune God is doing. God truly is in the process of raising up NO MATTER THE COST disciples, for such a time as this, and our Ministry is honored to be part of what God is up to. Accordingly, the leadership of this Ministry tries to stay “under the radar” as much as possible so that our individual personalities blend in with the brotherhood.

One other core value: We only sell products that we believe have real value in helping men live out the call on their lives. We are big believers in symbols that remind us of our mission. The battle is intense and life is hard, and we know that each of us in core leadership of this Ministry could easily fall (we have before!). So we personally use these symbols to remind us of the covenants we have made with Christ. For example, we never take off our Band of Brothers' Rings, and most of us usually wear one of the wrist bands. We also like having symbols available to help us call out other brothers – “offering the brotherhood of Christ.” We enjoy handing out the wristbands to other men, and we are honored when we feel led by God to give a Band of Brothers’ Ring to other men. We have found that the "gift of the ring" is a powerful way to speak words of life and glory to another man and to challenge him to engage in the real battle for Christ – to become a warrior for Him. Finally, we use the symbols to help us affirm our wives and kids. These products help unite our families in this mission. Additionally, the common symbol of the “Sword-Shaped Celtic Cross” is a means to unite the clans for the cause of Christ; it carries the meaning of A NO MATTER THE COST FOLLOWER OF CHRIST. This symbol has been registered in the United States and throughout many parts of the world as a legally protected trademark. We are not aware of any other symbol that represents one’s “no matter the cost” decision to follow Christ – to be a true disciple. Many other symbols, including the traditional cross and the fish symbol, have been diluted. We are committed to protect this Sword-Shaped Celtic Cross symbol, to be used by Christ's disciples who desire a reminder of their covenant with God and who are not ashamed to identify themselves as sold-out followers of Christ. We plan to enforce the use and meaning of this symbol as it is intended. That being said, we contractually license churches to use this symbol for free - as long as they do not dilute the meaning behind the symbol. Again, the goal is to have a symbol or banner that can be used to unite the clans of Christ.

In summary, by offering these products and symbols (that we in leadership personally use) to other men, we hope the products will assist men to engage in the battles for Christ and to help them call out other sold-out followers of Christ. If these products provide good value to the men in our brotherhood - and in the process can help fund the cause – PRAISE GOD!

May God bless the efforts of everyone who is involved with this grass-roots movement. May God be glorified and may He make sure that all our hearts are in the right place – NO MATTER THE COST!