As Alabama Baptists honor those who have served in past wars on Veterans Day, many are also actively ministering to those who are serving now in the war on terror.
The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, sponsors a long-term ministry to deployed military and their families. Known as Missions to the Military (M2M), the group has recently mailed some 50 Christmas care packages to Marines deployed to Iraq with the 4th Battalion/14th Marines (4/14) and to soldiers in the Army National Guard’s Company F131 Aviation Regiment deployed to Afghanistan.
Ted Brooker, co-founder of the group, said these two units were chosen because both had members from the church in their ranks. The commanding officer of Company F131, Johnny Bass, is a member of Brook Hills, while six Marines from the 4/14 are also church members.
“There are two parts to this,” he said. “The first is reaching out to your own — you take care of your members first. The second is the mission of reaching out to [servicemen and women] and trying to spread the gospel.”
The group has plans to expand and continue with projects as long as the military is deployed to the Middle East, Brooker said. “We (the church) owe them some type of contact.”
Churches and individuals across the state feel the same way and so have been busy sending care packages, writing letters and raising money for supplies to send to those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Members of East Gadsden Baptist Church, Etowah Association, gathered money and items to send 800 care packages to a unit in Iraq. Others sought specific items such as the 80 two-way radios and 1,300 batteries collected by First Baptist Church, Grand Bay, to help soldiers as they go on patrols and convoys in Iraq.
While many projects begin as one-time events, some have had long-term consequences.
The initial purpose of a care package project of First Baptist Church, Trussville, was for its summer reading program and church members to send packages to the soldiers in Company F131. Church librarian Connie Horsley said the project spawned relationships between some of the soldiers and those who participated, as well as a desire to send Christmas care packages and other provisions while the unit is deployed to Afghanistan.
“We had several ask for their soldier back [to send the Christmas box to],” Horsley said. And overall, she said the church “will continue [helping] this unit as long as they are deployed.”
In fact, the church is already planning its next project — sending toys and school supplies for the unit to hand out in an orphanage near the unit’s base.
Whether long- or short-term, receiving news and items from home is a major source of support for deployed soldiers.
Mike McBride, M2M co-founder, said sending letters and care packages is “one of the most important things we can do.”
“I’ve heard from soldiers who say they read the same letter over and over for hours and then trade letters with someone else,” he said.
Ronny Bigham, an Army physician stationed in Iraq said those letters and care packages are also a way for Christians to “tangibly touch these guys who would otherwise probably never have anything to do with ‘church people.’”
“I can tell you that there are lots of guys that are laying their lives on the line daily for ‘freedom’ and they have no idea that true freedom only comes with Jesus.”
Bigham said several in his unit of 300 probably have friends and family that do send them notes of encouragement, but there are others who get nothing. So for the holidays he is trying to get 300 small gifts for men ages 25–35 and 300 Christmas cards sent to him so he can distribute them throughout his unit. “Believe it or not, there are many soldiers out there who really have nobody,” Bigham said in a recent e-mail.
While many Baptists want to reach these who have nobody, a problem is finding them.
Because of security reasons, the Department of Defense has discontinued the “Any Soldier” mail program, so it usually takes personal knowledge of someone to be able to send them mail.
But Linda Hammons of Golden Springs has found a solution. She has taken the names of soldiers in units and paired them with individuals who want to “adopt” a serviceman or woman. So far, Hammons has gotten three units completely adopted and is working on her fourth and fifth.
“I hope people will adopt these guys and keep them till they come home,” she said. “I wanted them each to have a box for Christmas.”
Hammons said it is mainly individuals who adopt the soldiers, but organizations like Calhoun Baptist Association and businesses have donated money or supplies to the effort. When an individual adopts a soldier, Hammons gives them a name and an address to which to send a Christmas box. And this effort, like many others, will continue after Christmas, Hammons said.
“I keep thinking I’ll be done after this unit (gets adopted), but I’m not,” she said, noting that a sixth unit is in the works. “This is something I can do, and I don’t plan to give it up.”
Master Sergeant Hubert Chance, state director for the Army National Guard’s Family Program, encourages people to also remember the families of those deployed, especially reservists.
When reservists are deployed, many times their families are left to live off of a reduced income because some employers quit paying salaries to the deployed.
For information on ministering to the military and their families, visit www.thealabamabaptist.org.
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