CHARLES BACANI

Charles Bacani said his life changed dramatically when he was 22 years old. “I woke up to my dad yelling, ‘The house is on fire! Get out!’”

His family lost everything that cold January morning, but six weeks later they would face an even bigger challenge. His father suffered a brain aneurysm, and doctors told Charles and his family that his father had so much blood on his brain that he wouldn’t survive.

“I felt like I had to be strong for my family,” Charles said. “I felt like I had to do all this stuff, but it was just a role that really wasn’t supposed to be filled by me. God was telling me at the point, ‘I’m supposed to be strong for you. You need to lean on me.’”

Charles reacted by trying to fill the void in his life. “I was drinking, smoking, staying out late and partying with friends,” he said “… just trying to feel better with trying not to feel what I should be feeling, which was pain.”

Looking back at that time, Charles said he knows now that God was trying to get his attention. After he and his wife, Sarah, got married and had their first child, they decided to look for a church to attend. When they walked into CrossTown, which was meeting at River Woods Elementary School at the time, the first thing Charles remembers hearing was the music. As a drummer in a punk rock band, the music is what welcomed him to the church.

He spent many hours asking questions and getting answers from those in the church. And both he and Sarah accepted Christ into their lives while meeting with Pastor Ronn at Caribou Coffee. Charles and Sarah are now the parents of three children, and Charles plays drums with the worship team.

“I felt when I was younger that I let go of God,” Charles said. “But He never let go of me.”

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