Tues night, 29 Sept 09
It has been about a week since I last added anything to my blog. In many ways it has been the same old stuff here, and then of course there has been quite a bit of new stuff to share. Truth is, I don't know what all is worthy of adding here (verses what would bore you to tears), and what is off limits to share over the internet. I can tell you that I had almost 50 Soldiers attend my chapel service last Sunday night. That was quite a surprise to me, but I was thrilled nonetheless. That old chapel (see picture) felt almost full, which was pretty cool. I preached on suffering and the need to still praise God through the storms of life (such as an experience like this, hint hint). Of course, with that topic I had to play Casting Crown's song, "Praise You in This Storm." It all went over very well and I had many nice compliments afterward. This feels like a regular church back home because I have an older Soldier who wants me to use the hymnals and young Soldiers who want me to stick with contemporary praise songs! (I may do both next week). Just goes to show, it does not matter where your church is located, that issue will still be there! I even have a Soldier who wants to get baptized before we leave here. We have the figure out the when and where to do this since our old chapel does not have a baptistry, but I'm honored he asked.
There is another large group of Soldiers here from somewhere back East, and they have a Chaplain with them as well. He is about my age and we have hit it off well already. We've spent time comparing notes and discussing Bible study topics and times, as well as preaching topics and styles. He's had a number of difficult issues to deal with regarding his Soldiers already, as have I. Many relationships back home are strained and the Soldiers here are feeling the stress. When there are distractions back home, you can't believe how magnified it gets at this end. So please keep us all in your prayers. Pray for our military all over the world who are away from home. Trust me, it's hard.
Gotta run for now, but thanks for reading along and I'll add more soon.
for sure, Darren, praying for sure. On the other side of things, due to my location here, I often find myself working with the wives of miliary personnel. It is an interesting dynamic, and I consider it a privilege to work with the family members of our military in this way.
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