Dear friends,

People often ask me two simple questions:

What is this story really about?

and why did you write it?

Let me answer both as plainly as I can.

Knights Arise: Order of the Risen Blade begins with a historical truth.

In 1312 the Knights Templar were nearly destroyed. In our story, a few survived the arrests, the tortures, and the burnings. This remnant went into hiding.

Using the resources they had carefully preserved, they rebuilt slowly, quietly, and in the shadows. Over the centuries their mission evolved. They no longer existed to protect pilgrim roads or defend a single kingdom. Their calling became larger and more urgent: to protect every image-bearer of God on the earth.

Today that means confronting and deterring not only human evil; cartels, traffickers, organized crime, and the corrupt systems that enable them. It also means confronting the darker powers that stand behind those apparatuses. Powers that use human greed, violence, and corruption as tools to strike at the image of God wherever it is found; in the jungles of southeast Asia, in the streets of the favelas of Sao Paulo, in the boardrooms, in the halls of power wherever they may be intent on bringing harm to the most vulnerable among us.

The story you will follow, however, is more specific. It is the story of Golf 77.

Golf 77 is one of the Order’s operational squadrons — a small team of men and women drawn from every background the Order recruits: former military operators, intelligence officers, medics, pilots, pastors, street-level ministers, and others who had already faced evil face-to-face and refused to look away. They come from the crime-ridden streets of American cities, the back alleys of places like Bangkok, the quiet corridors of ministry, and the polished boardrooms where human lives are treated as commodities.

Each carries a personal story of redemption. Each brings hard-won skills useful on both the seen and the unseen planes of the fight. Their different denominational roots are not obstacles; they become strengths when the team is forged together.

The Angel Studios Torch Video will tell of one of their missions: the attempt to deliver fifty children abducted by the PCC cartel in São Paulo — a network that is being amplified and directed by a darker presence for purposes far more evil than mere profit.

That mission forces Golf 77 to confront both planes of the war at once.

That is the story.

Why did I write it?

Because for twenty-three years I was given the privilege to serve as a United States Air Force Chaplain. I flew with aircrews. I deployed with warfighters. I sat through the long nights with commanders who needed a steady ear before leading their people into harm’s way. In those years I circumnavigated the globe more than twenty times. I saw both the breathtaking beauty of God’s world and the calculated evil that seeks to ruin it. I watched ordinary men and women—flawed, tired, and often afraid—carry extraordinary courage because they believed the light was still stronger than the darkness.

History, lived experience, and a lifetime of listening to the stories of those who fight on the front lines all came together in this work. Knights Arise is my attempt to honor both the ancient remnant who refused to let the Order die and the modern warriors—military and civilian—who still stand in the gap today.

We do not tell this story just because we hate the darkness. We tell it because we love the image-bearers the darkness is trying to destroy.

Thank you for walking with us.

Deus Vult. The Blade Rises.

In His service and at your service,

Kevin G. Browne, Chaplain (Major), USAF (Ret)

Shepherd of the Blade

Knights Arise: Order of the Risen Blade

From the Keep: Project Status

The narrative, full storyboard, creative direction, and preliminary imagery for the Angels Studio Torch Video have all been completed and delivered to our production partners at Caledon Virtual.

Everything required to produce the professional Torch Video is now in their hands. The only remaining step is the final production funding needed to green-light the work and move the finished video toward submission to Angel Studios.

What Your Donations are Funding:

A professional Angel Studios Torch Video (8–10 minutes) produced by Caledon Virtual of Columbia, MO that includes:

• Cinematic storyboard

• Custom illustrations

• Animation and sound design

• Voiceover narration

Where the Money Goes

• Illustration & Design – 66%

• Animation – 14%

• Sound Design – 18%

• Content Integration – 2%

Once this final funding threshold is reached, production can begin immediately.

Meet Golf 77 – Today’s Character Spotlight

Master Sergeant Dan Harris (Forge), Ground Leader of Golf 77

The town of Allenton, Missouri, sits quiet along the river like it always has—small, steady, the kind of place where everybody knows your name and your daddy’s name and your granddaddy’s before that. Dan Harris grew up in the shadow of Greater Hope Baptist Church, where his father, Pastor Jeremiah Harris, preached every Sunday with the same calm fire he used to baptize his only son in the creek out back when Dan was thirteen. That day the water was cold and the sun was warm, and something settled deep in Dan’s chest that felt like bedrock. Faith wasn’t something he talked about much back then. It was just… there. Like breathing.

College at twenty-one tested that bedrock harder than he ever expected. A dark season—reckless choices, a relationship that went off the rails, the kind of spiral that makes a young man look in the mirror and wonder if he’s still the same boy his father raised. Dan hit bottom hard enough that he thought he’d never climb out. “I figured I’d never be a Christian again,” he told his father years later, voice thick. The shame was real.

He joined the Navy as a Corpsman looking for structure and a way to serve. What he found instead was a second chance. On deployment an evangelical chaplain saw something in the quiet Missouri kid stitching up Marines under fire. That chaplain didn’t preach at him. He just walked beside him, talked straight, and reminded him that grace isn’t earned—it’s received. One night in the middle of the sand, Dan rededicated his life right there in the chapel tent. When he came home on leave he stood in the creek again, tears streaming down his face while his father wrapped him in a hug that felt like the whole world coming back together.

After the Navy he went to seminary, then stepped into the role he was born for: youth pastor at Greater Hope. He poured everything he had into those kids, the same fire that once saved him now forging young souls who needed someone steady in their corner. Dan wasn’t flashy. He was the guy who showed up with coffee and Scripture and a listening ear, the everyman who made faith feel possible even when life was hard.

It was on a mission trip after his Navy days that the Order first noticed him.

They were doing post-hurricane relief in the Midwest, teens from Greater Hope helping rebuild, handing out supplies, running a little camp for kids who’d lost everything. Local gangs moved in fast, seeing easy targets in the chaos. When they tried to snatch a couple of vulnerable teens from the camp, Dan didn’t freeze. The old Corpsman instincts kicked in. He organized the group, got the kids to safety, and stood his ground long enough for help to arrive. No heroics, no speeches, just steady, quiet leadership under pressure, the same way he led his youth group back home.

An Order operative, working undercover as a relief worker, watched the whole thing. Later, when the dust settled, the operative pulled Dan aside and laid the truth on him: there was a war bigger than the one Dan had already fought. Human evil and something darker—supernatural—working together. The Order needed men who could lead on the ground, who had already walked through fire and come out with their faith intact. Dan listened, prayed hard that night, and felt that same pull he’d felt in the creek all those years ago.

He said yes.

Master Sergeant Dan Harris didn’t set out to become a modern Templar. He just kept doing what he’d always done—showing up, standing in the gap, and forging something stronger than the darkness trying to tear people apart.

From Allenton Creek Baptism to Sentinel of the Kingdom.

Support the mission to bring Knights Arise to life and give these characters their full story on the big screen or streaming at:

https://www.givesendgo.com/KnightsAriseTheMovie

Click our Prayer link and let us know that you are praying for this project. Share this with your church, your small group, your social media circle, or someone who needs to remember that the fight is bigger than flesh and blood—and that the Blade still rises.

Knight Asset Spotlight: The Condor

The Condor is the Order’s primary heavy-lift stealth insertion platform — a massive six-winged ornithopter built for one purpose: delivering Knights and their ground assets into places no conventional aircraft can reach.

Its silhouette is unmistakable. Six long, articulated dragonfly-style wings generate tremendous lift and allow precise hovering even beneath dense jungle canopy. The elongated, heavily armored fuselage carries multiple deployment bays and hydraulic ramps. Darkened multi-tone camouflage (deep olive, charcoal, brown, and black) keeps it low-visibility, while subdued red Templar crosses mark its identity without compromising tactical discretion. When the situation demands it, integrated heavy weapon turrets provide suppressive fire during the most vulnerable moments of insertion or extraction.

The Condor is more than a machine. It is the airborne expression of the Order’s ability to strike where the darkness believes itself unreachable.

Origin

The Condor was never meant to exist on any official inventory.

It is one of three prototype ornithopters developed by the Polish equivalent of DARPA. After the Order successfully dismantled a demonically empowered criminal network that had deeply infiltrated multiple levels of Polish society, the grateful but highly discreet Polish authorities awarded the Knights a substantial off-the-books stipend. Part of that arrangement included the quiet transfer of the three prototype aircraft.

An Order operative working through CIA channels arranged the final delivery with a single standing instruction: “Lose the paperwork.”

On the Polish side, the aircraft were simply recorded as destroyed or bureaucratically lost; a convenient fiction that kept their existence hidden from nations that would have preferred the technology never leave Polish control.

Today those three Condors serve the Order. One of them is assigned in support of Golf 77.

When the team needs to go where roads do not reach and runways do not exist, the Condor is the answer.

Stay Connected — Subscribe at knightsarise.org or simply reply to this email with “SUBSCRIBE” and we will add you to the list.

Next Issue

In the next Dispatch, we will introduce another member of Golf 77 and take a deeper look at the GMGM-01, affectionately known as Jim-Jim, an all-terrain fighting vehicle that is part Ferrari, part tank, with massive firepower to spare… and a bit of a personality…

Thank you for walking with us.

The darkness is real. But so is the light.

Deus Vult.

The Blade Rises.

In His service and at your service,

KEVIN G. BROWNE, Chaplain (Maj), USAF (Ret)

M.Div, MACI, M.A.

Shepherd of the Blade

Knights Arise: Order of the Risen Blade

Issue #2 | July 2026

A Personal Word from the Shepherd of the Blade

Dear friends and fellow warriors for the light,

Grace and peace to you.

I am deeply grateful for the response to our first Dispatch. Your notes, prayers, and words of encouragement have meant more than you know. We are not walking this road alone.

I also want to share some very good news. We’re not doing this alone.

We are grateful to partner with Caledon Virtual, a full-service video production and marketing company based right here in Columbia, Missouri. Their experienced team is ready to bring the Knights Arise Torch Pitch Video to life with professional storytelling, high-quality visuals, and strategic execution. Having a seasoned production partner like Caledon Virtual on board strengthens our ability to deliver a compelling pitch package to Angel Studios and other faith-friendly producers. You can learn more about their work at

https://caledonvirtual.com/

This partnership is another quiet confirmation that the Lord is going before us. The vision is real. The team is real. And the work continues.

Thank you for standing with us.

In His service and at your service,

KEVIN G. BROWNE, Chaplain (Maj), USAF (Ret)

M.Div, MACI, M.A.

Shepherd of the Blade

Knights Arise: Order of the Risen Blade

From the Keep – Project Update

As of mid-July 2026, the work continues with steady purpose:

The GiveSendGo campaign for the professional Torch Pitch Video remains our primary focus. Every gift moves us closer to the $24,000 goal needed for Caledon Virtual to begin production.

The black BDU blouse for the Shepherd of the Blade’s video reports is nearly complete.

The Chaplain badge and “Deus Vult” tape are already in place. We are waiting only on the name tape, the Shepherd of the Blade collar pins, and the Golf 77 shoulder patches. Once those arrive, the uniform will be ready for on-camera use.

Visual development remains strong. The final designs for both The Condor and Jim-Jim are locked and ready for the pitch materials.

Our Facebook page and website continue to grow. Thank you for every like, share, and prayer.

A Very Special Shout-Out

I want to offer a special word of thanks to one of our faithful supporters who has been organizing weekly weekend garage sales specifically for this project. Through her consistent, practical, and sacrificial effort, she has already raised over $1,550 toward the Torch campaign.

There was even a flyer promoting the sale (see below). That is real kingdom work done with both hands and heart.

Thank you, my friend! You are a true encourager to the mission, and your labor is bearing fruit for the Kingdom.

Character Spotlight: Corporal Elijah “Eli” Martinez – “Pulse”

Communications Specialist • Callsign: Pulse

Elijah Martinez grew up in the colorful chaos of Miami’s Little Cuba, where the streets hummed with salsa music, the smell of cafecito, and the constant risk of getting caught up in the wrong crowd. By the time he was twelve, Eli had already learned how to run — not just from trouble, but with it. His single mother worked double shifts cleaning offices, and the block became his playground and his battlefield. He was fast with his fists and faster with his mouth, the kind of kid who could talk his way out of a jam or into one, depending on the day.

Everything changed the summer he turned twelve. A local 1st Assembly of God church started a Royal Rangers outpost in a borrowed storefront. Eli only went because they offered free hot dogs and video games after the meetings. What he got instead was a group of men who treated him like he mattered. One evening, during a simple Bible story about David facing Goliath, something broke open inside him. The youth leader — a burly Pentecostal deacon who had once been a gang member himself — prayed with Eli right there on the worn carpet. Eli felt a fire he couldn’t explain, a rush of the Holy Spirit that filled him with the joy of redemption while tears ran down his face. From that night on, the street kid had a new identity.

At eighteen, he joined the Marines, looking for structure and a way to honor the God who had pulled him off the streets. The Corps quickly discovered Eli had a natural gift for communications and cyber systems. He could troubleshoot a jammed radio under fire, improvise a secure link with scavenged parts, and keep a squad connected when everything else was falling apart. But he never treated comms as just technical work. Before every mission, he would quietly pray over the radios — “Bind them, Lord. Let Your words flow through these wires.”

It was during a tense night operation in the Pacific that the Order first noticed him. A Marine recon team was pinned down and cut off from support. Eli, serving as the junior comms operator, refused to give up. While bullets cracked overhead, he cobbled together a working link using a damaged satellite phone and an old tactical radio, then calmly walked the team through a complex exfiltration while whispering prayers between transmissions. An Order operative embedded with the unit watched the entire thing and later pulled Eli aside.

The operative didn’t waste words. He told Eli the truth: the war the Marines were fighting had a deeper layer — one that required both technology and fervent prayer. The Order needed a comms specialist who could keep the team connected on the physical battlefield and who understood that spiritual warfare sometimes required binding things that no jammer could touch.

Eli listened, prayed through the night in the chapel tent, and gave the same answer he had given when the Royal Rangers leader first asked if he wanted to follow Jesus:

“I’m all in.”

Corporal Elijah “Eli” Martinez didn’t set out to become Golf 77’s Pulse — the man whose voice and fingers keep the team’s communications alive in the middle of chaos. He simply kept doing what he had always done since that night in the Little Cuba storefront: running toward the fight with fire in his heart, grit in his hands, and the name of Jesus on his lips.

From the streets of Little Cuba to the voice that keeps Golf 77 connected on both planes.

Visual Spotlight: Shepherd of the Blade Insignia & Golf 77 Patch

The Shepherd of the Blade Collar Pin:

White enamel on antique silver. The shepherd’s staff and Templar cross, crossed with the sword. A quiet reminder that the Shepherd walks with those who bear the Blade.

Golf 77 Shoulder Patch

Final approved design. The sword through the red Templar cross, lightning of purpose, and the rockers that declare both our identity and our motto:

ORDER OF THE RISEN BLADE

DEUS VULT

These pieces will soon take their place on the black BDU blouse. Tangible symbols of a very real mission.

Faith & Mission Moment

“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

— Ephesians 6:12

Eli’s story reminds us that the battle is always on two planes. The same hands that work the radios also lift in prayer. The same voice that keeps the team connected on the physical battlefield also calls on heaven. Technology and faith are not enemies. In the hands of the Order, they serve the same Lord.

The light is still shining. The Blade is still rising.

How You Can Stand With Us Right Now

Pray — Please continue to pray for wisdom, open doors, and the completion of the Torch Pitch Video.

Share — If this vision resonates with you, share this Dispatch or our Facebook page with friends who love strong stories and unapologetic faith.

Support the Mission — Our GiveSendGo campaign remains the priority. Every gift, no matter the size, moves us closer to production.

→ https://www.givesendgo.com/KnightsAriseTheMovie

Donor Level Awards Coming Soon

We are preparing a simple tiered way for supporters to stand with the mission at different levels. Full details will be shared in an upcoming Dispatch. For now, know that every gift — whether large or small — is received with deep gratitude and put to work for the Kingdom.

Tier Gift Amount

Supporter $25 – $49

Advocate $50 – $99

Defender $100 – $249

Sentinel $250 – $499

Guardian $500 – $999

Champion $1,000 – $2,499

Elite $2,500 – $4,999

Beacon $5,000+

Full reward details for each tier will be announced soon.

Stay Connected — Subscribe at knightsarise.org or simply reply to this email with “SUBSCRIBE” and we will add you to the list.

Next Issue

In the next Dispatch, we will introduce another member of Golf 77 and take a deeper look at one of the most striking assets in the series — The Condor.

Thank you for walking with us.

The darkness is real. But so is the light.

Deus Vult.

The Blade Rises.

In His service,

KEVIN G. BROWNE, Chaplain (Maj), USAF (Ret)

M.Div, MACI, M.A.

Shepherd of the Blade

Knights Arise: Order of the Risen Blade

A Personal Word from Chaplain Kevin G. Browne

Dear friends and fellow warriors for the light,

Grace and peace to you.

For years I carried these stories in my heart — born out of 23 years as an Air Force Chaplain walking with warfighters through both the seen and unseen battles, and out of a deep conviction that the light of Christ still shines brightest in the darkest places.

Today I’m honored to welcome you to The Blade Rises Dispatch, our regular update from the Keep. Whether you found us through the website, our Facebook page, or a friend who believes in redemptive storytelling, I’m grateful you’re here.

This newsletter exists for one reason: to keep you connected to the mission of Knights Arise: Order of the Risen Blade — a faith-driven action series about modern-day warriors who fight evil on two planes… and refuse to let the darkness win.

We don’t fight only because we hate the darkness. We fight because we love the innocent.

I pray these updates will encourage you, stir your faith, and remind you that ordinary people — cracked clay pots — can carry extraordinary light.

Thank you for standing with us.

In His service and at your service

KEVIN G. BROWNE, Chaplain (Maj), USAF (Ret)

M.Div, MACI, M.A.

Shepherd of the Blade

Knights Arise: Order of the Risen Blade

From the Keep – Project Update

As of late June 2026, the vision continues to move forward with steady momentum:

• Our GiveSendGo campaign for the professional Torch Pitch Video is live and gaining supporters. The goal is $24,000 to produce a high-quality cinematic pitch package (storyboards, custom illustrations, animation, sound design, and professional narration) for submission to Angel Studios and other faith-friendly producers.

• The project website at knightsarise.org is now live as the central home for updates, character information, and vision.

• Our Facebook page is active and growing — thank you to everyone who has liked, shared, and commented.

• Visual development is strong. The final canonical design for The Condor (the massive six-winged stealth infiltration ornithopter) and GMGM-01 “Jim-Jim” (the tracked extraction vehicle) has been locked in. These assets are ready for the pitch materials.

• Writing and worldbuilding are progressing steadily. The pilot episode outline (“Innocence Redeemed”) is complete, and deeper character and equipment bibles are being refined.

We are still very much in the “building the foundation” season, but the foundation is solid.

Character Spotlight: Sergeant Jack “Tread” Jackson

Ground Assault Specialist • Primary Operator of the GMGM-01 “Jim-Jim” Callsign: Tread

The streets of Birmingham, Alabama taught Jack Jackson how to fight long before he ever learned how to drive.

Born to a single mother who worked two jobs just to keep the lights on, Jack learned early that the world didn’t hand out second chances. By the time he was ten he was already running with the older kids, fists flying in alleyway scraps. But speed was always his escape. At seven years old he won his first national go-kart championship — the youngest driver ever to stand on that podium.

At fifteen, a church youth rally in a borrowed warehouse changed everything. A guest speaker talked about a God who loved fighters — not because they were perfect, but because He could redeem even the hardest hearts. Jack walked forward that night, tears cutting clean tracks through the dirt on his face, and gave his life to Christ.

He left the city behind and headed deeper into south Alabama, chasing the only family he had left — an uncle who raced dirt-track cars. There Jack learned real mechanical work. He could tear down and rebuild anything with an engine and make it run faster, stronger, and quieter than the factory ever intended.

The Army noticed.

For the next eight years Jack became the guy who could get a broken-down Humvee moving again in the middle of a firefight… the guy who always had one word on the comms when things went sideways:

“Keep moving!”

It was during a high-risk extraction in a dust-choked valley in Afghanistan that the Order first noticed him. A heavily damaged MRAP was pinned down under heavy fire with wounded aboard. Every conventional rescue attempt failed. Jack ignored protocol, commandeered an abandoned enemy technical truck, welded armor plating on the fly, and drove straight through the kill zone — twice — pulling every last soldier to safety.

An Order operative embedded with the unit watched the entire operation from a ridgeline.

Later, in the quiet of a forward operating base, he sat Jack down and told him the truth: the fight he’d been waging wasn’t only against men with guns. There was something darker at work. The Order needed a driver who could push experimental vehicles to their absolute limit on both planes of existence.

Jack listened, prayed through the night, and gave the same answer he always gave when the mission called:

“Keep moving.”

Sergeant Jack Jackson didn’t set out to become the primary operator of the Knights’ one-of-a-kind GMGM-01 “Jim-Jim.” He just kept doing what he’d always done — taking the wheel, pushing the machine past what anyone thought possible, and refusing to let the darkness win.

From Birmingham street fighter and go-kart champion to the man who makes Jim-Jim roar.

Visual Spotlight: The GMGM-01 (aka Jim-Jim)

One of the most powerful relationships in the series is between Tread and his machine.

When the situation becomes critical, Tread can remotely activate Jim-Jim from its berth inside The Condor using a secure code followed by the voice command:

“Papa needs you.”

High above the battlefield, nestled in the armored belly of the colossal six-winged stealth ornithopter, the GMGM-01 comes alive. Her four massive electric drive motors scream to life. Tracks spin. High-intensity combat lights snap on like the eyes of a predator. She launches from the cargo ramp at nearly forty kilometers an hour and crosses terrain at a rate that belies her massive size.

When she arrives, the AI voice — calm, steady, almost maternal — speaks directly over Tread’s commband:

“I’m here, Papa.”

This is not just a vehicle. It is family. It is hope arriving in the middle of the fire.

We are currently refining the final cinematic renders of both The Condor and Jim-Jim for the Torch Pitch Video. These machines will be unforgettable on screen.

Faith & Mission Moment

“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” — Ephesians 6:12

Jack Jackson’s story reminds us that redemption is rarely neat. It often looks like a street fighter who learned to drive before he learned to read a map… and who still carries the same stubborn faith that says, no matter how dark the road gets — keep moving.

The same God who met Jack in a borrowed warehouse in Birmingham is the same God who meets us in our own battles.

The light is still shining. The Blade is still rising.

How You Can Stand With Us Right Now

1. Pray — This week, please pray for wisdom as we finalize the Torch Pitch Video script and visuals, and for open doors with producers who value redemptive, hope-filled storytelling.

2. Share — If this vision resonates with you, share this dispatch (or the Facebook post) with friends who love strong stories and unapologetic faith.

3. Support the Mission — Our GiveSendGo campaign for the professional Torch Pitch Video is the current priority. Every gift, no matter the size, moves us closer to getting this story in front of the right people. → https://www.givesendgo.com/KnightsAriseTheMovie

4. Stay Connected — If you’d like these updates delivered directly to your inbox, subscribe using the form on knightsarise.org or reply to this email with “SUBSCRIBE” and we’ll add you to the list.

Next Issue: We will introduce another member of Golf 77 and take a first look at one of the most visually striking assets in the series — the colossal six-winged stealth ornithopter known as The Condor.

Thank you for walking with us.

The darkness is real. But so is the light.

Deus Vult. The Blade Rises.

In His service,

KEVIN G. BROWNE, Chaplain (Maj), USAF (Ret)

M.Div, MACI, M.A.

Shepherd of the Blade

Knights Arise: Order of the Risen Blade

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