Day 38!

Hi Family and Friends,

I really enjoyed our morning session of teaching today. We were briefed on the history of the Chaplaincy by a retired Army Chaplain. History is one of my passions and the thought of being part of a group that has its roots in American history is very moving. (In 1775 George Washington called for local Christian pastors to be commissioned as Chaplains in the Army. Of the 218 Chaplains who answered the call during the Revolutionary War, 25 died. This was 11.4% of the total group, by far the highest percentage of any war. Most of these deaths were caused by disease, hunger and exposure. Since 1775 around 25,000 Chaplains have served God and country and thanfully we haven't lost one since the Vietnam War.) On Thursday we take a trip as a class to the site of a famous battle from the Revolutionary War: The Battle at Cowpen. This is the site that the movie "Patriot" with Mel Gibson was loosely based upon. We get to walk the fields and divide our groop as 1/2 British, 1/2 American to get a feel for what the battle was like. The site of the battle is really close to the border of North Carolina so I'm hoping we get to walk over the state line. I've never been to North Carolina.) In the picture above I'm wearing a helmet from WWI.

More artifacts from history. (The peach piece of paper on the top, right below the black cap, has a $5 bill from 1775. Chaplains were payed $20 a month but the paper money was so devalued that it took $20 to buy a single turnip!)

Here is a picture of a dinner we had tonight at the officer's club for Chaplain Candidates. I counted 25 National Guard Candidates like myself out of 170 students...

Here I am being silly in class. I'm trying to show the guys how to preach with passion! :)

Blessings,

Dave