Our meeting opened with a devotion by Pastor Morehouse. Why does someone decide to serve? Sometimes it is selfless ideas of sacrifice or a calling from God. Many decisions are made to further educational dreams and to pay for schooling and experiences beyond their small town locale. With the pandemic and the World situation, many chaplains find that after service to their country, soldiers begin to see that they need something more. This is where the sacrificial love of Christ can help remove the struggle of the eternal consequences of their sins. They can meet unexpected challenges by reaching out to chaplains, a home pastor, parents, and those who speak God’s Word. They will be reminded of God’s desire to seek and save the lost.
There was no news of recent troop deployments or other communication from our two Church members who are deployed.
Pastor gave out information about some of the webinars that he has attended at the website www.psycharmor.org. The sessions are free and deal with military culture and how to deal with crisis situations like suicide, PTSD, and disability from injury, etc. These are great training for Operation Barnabas members who are communicating with Veterans at the Stand Downs.
As for funding for this year, the Diaconate at CLC have offered to assist us when our finances run low. We are planning to have a pickle and jam sale after both Church services on October 11. Claire from Claire’s Café said we can sell more produce and bake sale items outside her restaurant, probably in November. There will be no Veteran’s Day Memorial service and free food tickets for Veteran’s that day due to Covid 19. One of our members suggested that we do a bakeless bake sale later this year, which we are considering.
For Reformation Day, O.B. is planning to provide sweet treats for members. There will be packages laid out in the narthex after both services.
A thank you letter was received from Chaplain Craig Muehler, Director of the Ministry to the Armed Forces. He was thanking us for our donation of $500 to the MAF since they are funded by private donations and not the Synod.
There is World War II Museum in New Orleans that is setting up an honor wall for all soldiers who served in that War. For a small donation, you can have a name of a family member included on the wall. This is not a bogus scheme as it is endorsed by George H.W. Bush, Tom Brokaw, Steven Spielberg, and Tom Hanks. The web site is www.nationalww2museum.org. Russ Hawk’s Father, Floyd Edward Hawk, has been added to the list.
We have adopted a new Chaplain, Rev. Lt Aaron Bell, from California. His wife is Bruce’s 2nd cousin. We will contact him and find out what his needs are. Then we can assist with whatever he needs to minister to his service members.
The VA asked for our help in getting a Lazy Boy chair for a Veteran who was having a neck operation. We went to the Golden Goose and purchased a very nice lounger for $222. It was totally automatic and the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) came and picked it up and delivered it. We were thankful for the assistance.
Our next meeting will be held Thurs., Oct. 29 at the Church at 10:00 A.M. There is a possibility of a Stand Down being held in January 2021.
Pastor closed the meeting with a prayer for four fallen soldiers and their families.
Gospel Preaching – Bible Teaching – Tucson, AZ