In 2004, six years after his wife passed away, Chuck Wenger noticed that the sons of business friends he’d made over the years were all of similar age and asking similar questions. Questions like who am I? What is God’s will for my life? What does it mean to be a disciple today? Can I really change the world?
Chuck saw an opportunity to disciple eager young men, and five from around the world were invited to his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He’d call the group Band of Brothers in Christ, but saw to it that the organization would operate under the name Joshua One Eight, one of his favorite verses. The Band of Brothers in Christ used God’s Word to find answers to the questions and challenges they faced, and left with a life that was changed by the Word. After the first program was over, Chuck shared with his pastor that he thought it was a success. But God wasn’t done. Instead, Chuck’s pastor handed him a list of names for the next year’s program. From then on, Chuck determined that if God would provide the men to be discipled, he’d disciple them. And disciple them he did.
For over ten years, Chuck worked with small groups of young men who desired to follow Christ totally. And the result? Young men who began with questions about faith, and who were changed into fully devoted followers of Christ.
“I am led to invest in the lives of young men who will impact the world for Jesus Christ,” Chuck would say. And he had a history of making good investments. Over the last 34 years of his life Chuck successfully led c wenger group, the business he and his wife started after the nine years he worked for Billy Graham. By 2010 Chuck began formalizing a board and Band of Brothers in Christ hired it’s first employee. The vision of using God’s Word to equip young men for a life of discipleship had taken shape. Under Chuck’s watch, Band of Brothers in Christ directly discipled 81 men from more than nine countries and 20 states… but even still, as Chuck would often say,
“the best is yet to come!”
Today, Band of Brothers in Christ operates out of Central Kentucky and continues under the leadership of the faithful team Chuck wisely assembled years ago, which includes many of his disciples.
We host multiple programs across the country throughout the summer and continue seeing the lives of young men transformed in the areas of personal purity, financial integrity, accountability, healthy relationships, and leadership in the area of Biblical discipline. Christ’s legacy through Chuck continues as the young men we disciple are changed by God’s Word to change the world.
