Why I Started Barnabas Bands: Reminding the World They Are Well Loved

I never set out to start a wristband company.

Like most of you, I’m just a husband, dad, and regular guy who follows Jesus and tries (often imperfectly) to love people the way He does. But a few years ago, something kept breaking my heart over and over.

I kept meeting young people and teenagers who desperately wanted to go to camp, on a mission trip, or to a retreat that could change their lives… but their families simply couldn’t afford it.

I’d hear youth pastors say, “We have to turn kids away every year because of money.”

Camp directors would tell me, “We’re losing spots that could have been life-changing.”

Mission leaders would share, “This student felt called, but the plane ticket was out of reach.”

At the same time, I noticed something else: in a world that feels louder, harsher, and more anxious every day, people—especially young people—need constant reminders that they are truly, deeply, unconditionally loved by God.

Not earned. Not conditional. Just loved. Extravagantly. Forever.

John 15:9 had been burning in my heart for many years:






“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”

Have you ever stopped to think how God the Father loves Jesus? Wholeheartedly, unconditionally and eternally are three words that quickly come to my mind. What about you? 

And Jesus says that exact same quality and quantity of love I receive from the Father is the way I LOVE  YOU! This blows my mind.

Jesus doesn’t say “Try harder and maybe I’ll love you.”
He doesn’t say “Clean yourself up first.”
He says, “I love you with the same limitless love the Father has for me. Live in that love. Rest in it. Let it define you.”

I wanted every teenager, every college student, every weary parent, every doubting believer to have something tangible—something they could see and touch every single day—that whispered this truth: You are well loved.

So we made a simple, bright-red silicone wristband with the words “I Am Well Loved – John 15:9” embossed in white.

Each band contains an additional love note from Jesus on card stock.

Wear the Promise. Live the Love.
"Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved  you; remain in my love."

That's Father-to-Son, Son-to-YOU love; 100% unconditional, unbreakable, forever. 

Nothing you do can make Jesus love you more. Nothing you've done can make Him love  you less.

Slip on this band and feel it.
 
You are securely, wildly, eternally loved by the God who gave it, and the friend who slipped it on your wrist.

--> Get your "I Am Well Loved" wristband here https://barnabasbands.com/products/i-am-well-loved-wristband

But here’s where it gets unusual.

I decided from day one that Barnabas Bands would be a for-profit company that gives 100% of the profit away. Not 10%. Not 50%. Not “a portion.” All of it!

Every single dollar of profit goes straight out the door to ministries to help support their mission and as micro-grants (up to $1,000 each) to verified U.S. faith-based 501(c)(3) ministries—specifically to help with:
  • General support for a ministry's vision
  • Retreat and camp scholarships 
  • Mission trip expenses
  • Youth group activities and events
 Just profits turned into real help for the next generation to experience Jesus in deeper ways.

Every wristband helps fund the next micro-grant. --> Shop now and make an impact https://barnabasbands.com/products/i-am-well-loved-wristband 

Why structure it this way? Because I believe generosity should be simple, sustainable, and joyful. When you buy a wristband for yourself, your youth group, your grandkids, or as Christmas gifts—you’re not just getting a daily reminder of God’s love.

You’re literally helping send the next kid to camp.

One $10 wristband can be the difference between a student saying “I wish I could go” and “God met me there.”

I named it Barnabas Bands because Barnabas—the “son of encouragement” in Acts—was the guy who sold a field and laid the money at the apostles’ feet (Acts 4:36-37). He believed in generous, no-strings encouragement that pointed people to Jesus.

That’s all I want to be: encouragers who remind the world they are well loved… and then help them experience it.

If you’ve ever worn a wristband that started conversations about Jesus…
If you’ve ever seen a teenager come home from camp radically changed…
If you believe the next generation is worth investing in…

Then this is for you.

We’re just getting started, and the first wristbands are available now.

Grab one for yourself. Get a stack for your youth group. Gift them this Christmas.

Every single one helps fund the next grant.

Because together, we can remind the world they are well loved—and then prove it.

Shop “I Am Well Loved” wristbands here → https://barnabasbands.com/products/i-am-well-loved-wristband

Thank you for being part of this with us.

In His extravagant love,
Todd
CEO - Chief Encouragement Officer, Barnabas Bands
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