1. Jim B is a Vineyard missionary who has been in Afghanistan for more than a year. I was referred to him by Mark Fields, the Missions Coordinator for the Vineyard USA. Jim and I chatted a couple of times by phone when we were in the USA, and we keep in touch by email. He was recently able to bring his family with him, which is great. He asks for prayer for their visas, since it is getting harder for foreigners to be there. Jim is helping with discipleship and he is learning the local language. I have respect for him doing this, since it is not an easy language nor is it an easy place to live.
2. I use the phrase “Godincidences” to give God credit for “interesting coincidences.” Here is an example. I was in my chapel office in East Afghanistan, and Chaplain Dawn walked in. She was passing through to see some of her Psychological Operations Soldiers who were on my Forward Operating Base. We started chatting, and it turns out she’s with the Vineyard, too! What are the odds of that happening? There are only about ten Vineyard chaplains in the US military that I know about, and of all the chapels in the world, she walked into the one where I worked. I’m thankful to the Lord for that “Godincidence.” It’s a reminder that He’s in control and He gives us hints about it when we look for them.
3. Afghanistan summary – There were 7 Forward Operating Bases we visited monthly.
a. Finley-Shields is where we were most of our time & we were able to renovate the chapel. It was nearby that SSG Havens and I found the tent school and a school building and we started giving out school supplies to the needy Afghans. Once it was more than 25 boxes that the US sent.
b. Fenty was the Brigade HHQ across the street. We did redeployment briefings there. As we were redeploying we were attacked there. I also visited Kalagush and Bagram Airfield and we were attacked there as well. We lost about 50 Soldiers from our Brigade in a year. Our freedom is not free. Jesus, be with their Families and friends.
c. Connolly is where the Al Qaede / Taliban mortared the Morale, Welfare, Recreation room where we had chapel. One of our SSGs is still in the hospital recovering. It will take him more than a year to heal. This is also the area where SSG Randy Haney gave his life for our country. I met with his Family while I was on Rest and Recreation.
d. Garcia is where William Seo and Dr. Rafi started www.helpafghanistan.net. Officers Christian Fellowship printed a picture of the tent school, and I was contacted by a Colonel, who put me in contact with Operation International Children, Gary Sinise’s organization, the actor who was LT Dan in Forest Gump and who is on CSI NY. OIC sent us 30 boxes of school supplies. William contacted Gary, who flew out to Garcia with 15 palates of school supplies and helped distribute them. It ended up on the Bonnie Hunt TV show.
e. Torkham Gate and Bulldog are near the Pakistan border. Morningstar Development from Colorado Springs wants to build a community center there. Because she helped with the blueprints, they will dedicate it to Capt Jenna Wilcox, who died in a freak car accident when she redeployed.
f. Hughie is the FOB next door where I met with an Afghan National Army Muslim chaplain. I also met with the Jalalabad Director of Religious Affairs / The Hajj, which is the pilgrimage to Mecca. They and all the Afghans saw the cross on my cover and chest. I explained to them the freedom of religion in the International Security Assistance Force, so prayerfully the almost 100% Muslim country will someday have this freedom it as well. The Christians have recently been persecuted.
5. Scripture – Since this is a sermon, not just a story telling time, I wanted to include some.
I did a study of Afghanistan in the Bible, and it appears to be near the Medo-Persia area, since the Medes were the ancient Indo-Europeans of NW Iran. This is written about in Ezra 6, Esther 1, Daniel 5 & 11 and Isaiah 21. I did a Message on this, so if you’re interested, see me and I’ll email it to you.
Genesis 12: 3 is about Abram’s Journeys to Egypt. The Lord said to him “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” We are not blessed to keep it to ourselves, but to share it with others around the world.
Psalm 91 has been called the Warrior Psalm. You saw a picture of some w/ the bandanas.
Isaiah 6:8 is the famous passage about his commission. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us (Trinity)? Then I said “Here am I. Send me!”
The Lord said in Jeremiah 29: 7 “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you.” I don’t have recent statistics, but people are moving to the cities all around the world. We need to pray for cities.
In Matthew 5: 13 and 14 Christ reminds us we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In the mainline church where I was raised, as youth we did the musical Godspell, so I’ll always remember a fun song about this.
Christ said in Matthew 25: 36 – 40 (when I was) “naked . . . you clothed Me . . . Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we (see You ) naked, and clothe You? . . . The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers (or sisters) of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” Because of the generosity of the USA, we were able to distribute 200 boxes of school supplies and clothing to the needy Afghans who only make $800 / year, and we gave our Warriors the supplies that were intended for them. Thanks for sending some to us.
5. REVIEW / APPLICATION / CONCLUSION. So what?
Christ said in Acts 1: 8 “you shall be My witnesses both is Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Perhaps the Lord is calling you to go overseas. But first, we may need to serve locally and nationally, as Jesus told us in the verse. Start small.
We need to pray for and support missionaries there and in other countries of the world.
Send care packages to the Afghans / Iraqis and support our Warriors as well. I will close in prayer using the Great Commissions in Matthew 28 and Mark 16.
