One of our assignments during Chaplain school is to visit and report on every Chapel service available on Ft. Jackson. This Army post is a major training post for new soldiers and 77 thousand will come through here next year alone! The services I attended were a reminder of why I answered the call to become a chaplain. So many scared and homesick soldiers in need of Jesus Christ and a listening ear...
The first service I visited at 8:15 a.m. was a general protestant service for basic training soldiers. The men and women sat on separate sides of the auditorium. There may have been well over 500 soldiers there for worship. Many clasped a Bible in one hand as they followed their platoon to their seat.
Here are about 300-400 soldiers getting dismissed from another Protestant chapel service on the other side of base. This service started at 9:00 a.m. I was impressed with the chaplain who preached during this message...He seemed to love his soldiers and gave a firm message about the consequences of sin despite God's forgiveness. It still seems strange to me to see church attendees carrying a weapon to church!
This was a picture from the 11:00 gospel service at yet another chapel on base. The Men's Choir had a lot of energy. There were probably 400-500 people in attendance during this service. All visitors were asked to stand and introduce themselves and I mentioned that I would like to bring the Men's Choir home with me to Colorado. They were not willing to come with me :)
I was encouraged to see so many soldiers and their families making worship a part of their lives. There is a lot of work to do to reach the unsaved in our nation!
Best,
Dave
No comments:
Post a Comment