Shane Rogers is a pastor’s son. He grew up going to church regularly in his hometown, Ventura, located in Southern California just an hour from Los Angeles.

“I wasn’t forced to go to the same church as my parents, but I had to go,” he said. “If you’re going to live here, you’re going to attend a church service. That was the rule.”

Rogers believed there was a god. He believed a man named Jesus walked the earth. But he didn’t ‘believe,’ not in the way his parents believed.

“When I got to high school, I started making stupid mistakes, making bad decisions,” he said. “My first job out of school was in a law office and I really despised it. I despised being inside.”

It was about that time that Roger began to understand the difference between being a church goer and having the heart of a servant, the very essence of the ministry of Christ.

“I was tired of serving myself,” he said. “I was ready to serve others.”

He was 20. He set off on a multiple month journey to consider the best way to serve. He thought about joining the military or becoming a law enforcement officer. He looked into the Peace Corps.

“My missions pastor told me about Friend Ships and the Sea Hawks,” Roger said.  Sea Hawks is a strict and rigorous physical and spiritual discipleship training program for young men and women ages 18 to 25 who are seeking what God has for their lives and who wish to grow in their walk with Christ.  To become a person of excellence, honor and integrity with physical and moral courage who shows God’s love to the world around him is the goal of the 10-month program.

When I came to Lake Charles and began the Sea Hawks training, I think that’s when faith, when placing God as first and foremost in my life became my way of life,” he said.

Rogers quickly moved into an instructor’s position, and has been a Sea Hawk for 10 years, earning him the title of Sgt. Major. Today he is married to Hannah, a young woman from Arizona who has also completed the Sea Hawk training. They are mom and dad to Piper, 6; Lilly, 4; and Bennet, 7 months.

“It’s a tough program, but it can be done. Some don’t make it, but it’s been my experience that if it is the choice of the young woman or man to be here, they can make it,” Rogers said. “This isn’t like one of those court-appointed programs.”

The training includes getting up early, neatness of person and place, physical training, work, devotion, Bible reading and scripture memorization, letter-writing, a little journaling, eating and sleeping. Time management is a major takeaway. Sea Hawks visit Christian churches of all denominations and for many of them it is the first time to visit a church different from the one in which they grew up.

“It’s preparation for sharing the gospel and for being physically able to serve with Friend Ships after a disaster,” Rogers said.

No one at Friend Ships or with the Sea Hawks Program gets paid,” said Rogers, “from the director of Friend Ships, (all-volunteer international relief organization) down to the newest Sea Hawk crew member.”

Ship lodging and food is provided. Uniforms and books must be purchased. Sea Hawks bring personal hygiene products. During the first three months of basic training, coming and going is limited.

“Sea Hawks is a program for someone who wants to have a deeper relationship with God, for someone who wants to serve others,” he said. “To a person like that, it’s not about how hard it is. This is how I choose to live my life.”

Rogers’ favorite Bible verse is, Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Go to https://friendships.org or call 337-433-5022 to find out more.