As you read this I’m on my way home. I fly out of Kuwait on June 3 after spending 310 days here and in Iraq. My plane will land in San Diego where I will go through a demobilization process with the Navy that will last about 2 weeks. After that, I’ll spend a few weeks resting with my family before returning to the church on August 15.

My family and I deeply appreciate all of your prayers, encouragement, and support. I know that it has been difficult for you to have me away and I will never forget the sacrifices you have made during this past year. The Lord has blessed countless military personnel and their families because you have allowed me to minister as a Navy chaplain.

While I’ve been gone, I have been working with the Warrior Transition Program (WTP) of the US Navy Expeditionary Combat Readiness Command (ECRC) at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. I have had several responsibilities while I’ve been here. I’ve been a Staff Chaplain, the Department Head for the Logistics Department, and the Department Head for the Care Department. In addition, I provided assistance to the United States Army Chapel Program.

As a Staff Chaplain, I gave Warrior Transition briefs, Return and Reunion briefs, and Combat and Operational Stress briefs to over 4,800 Sailors and Marines in Kuwait and Iraq. I also provided over 1,500 counseling sessions for people who were struggling with combat and operational stress, family problems, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and depression.

While in Iraq I was able to spend time with Sailors who worked with explosive ordinance disposal units. I helped them with the grief they were experiencing after having lost several of their members in combat. I also went on route clearing missions with them as they looked for Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s) along the highways.

I also filled in for a Navy chaplain who works at the Kuwait City International Airport (Military Side) with a detachment of Marines. I led two “Down Load Ceremonies” for the remains of two United States military personnel who had been killed in action in Iraq. I also led two “Up Load Ceremonies” for these remains before they were flown to the United States for burial. In addition, I provided grief counseling to the members of the United States Military Mortuary Affairs Unit who processed these remains. I also provided grief counseling to the Marines and Airmen who participated in these ceremonies.

In addition to serving as a Staff Chaplain I served as the Department Head for the WTP Logistics Department. In this capacity I supervised eight different enlisted personnel and was responsible for the gear and weapons shipments to the US for over 4,500 Sailors. We shipped over 3,500 weapons and 4 million dollars worth of equipment. I was also responsible for the berthing of 4,500 Sailors and the transportation of these Sailors from Ali Al Salem Air Base to Camp Arifjan. I planned and led over 40 convoys.

I also served as the Department Head for the WTP Care Department. In this capacity, I supervised one US Navy Chaplain, two US Navy Social Workers, 2 Navy Corpsmen, and 2 Religious Program Specialists. I was responsible for the review and writing of the training curriculum used in the Warrior Transition Program. I was also responsible for the training of the Sailors as they prepared to leave Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait and return to their families.

I also provided assistance to the United States Army Chapel Program. I was the Senior Chaplain of the 8:30am Protestant Liturgical Service and the 5:30pm Blended Service. I provided over 60 worship services, including a midnight Christmas Eve service to Sailors who were locked in the United States Navy Customs Warehouse and a Christmas Day service to the crew of a United States Navy coastal patrol boat at the Kuwaiti Naval Base.  In addition, I assisted in the Community Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunrise services. I also provided pastoral care to the Sailors who ran the brig and for their inmates.

With your generous help I was able to deliver over 200 care packages to the wounded military personnel at the Wounded Warrior Unit. I also provided them with regular visits, counseling, and Christmas Carolers on Christmas Eve.

And by the grace of God, I have had the privilege of praying with 16 people who asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. One of them was a Marine whom I baptized by immersion just before he left to go back home to a troubled marriage.

This past year, you have probably seen Sailors and Marines at the airport who are on their way home from Iraq, Kuwait, or Afghanistan. I have told each of them that you are praying for them and that you have given me to them during this past year. They all wanted me to tell you, “Thank you.” They also want you to know that they have been praying for you, too.

In Christ,

David

SAND STORMS

One of the many obstacles we have to face is sand storms. This picture was taken at my base last week at noon. During this storm, the roads outside the base were closed to military traffic which caused all sorts of problems for us. For example, some of my coworkers were at Ali Al Salem Air Base picking up a new group of Sailors who had just arrived from Iraq. They were not allowed to leave the base until the road conditions improved and so they spent several hours waiting. Eventually, the conditions improved and they drove the two hours to our base. I was driving on the highway from the Kuwaiti Naval Base to our base when the sand storm hit. I didn't know that the roads had been closed, so I just kept on driving and I made it back OK, but it took a long time. When these storms hit everything becomes covered with a fine layer of sand.

No matter what we do, all of the furniture inside our offices and living areas are covered with it. After the storm we spend hours cleaning our computers, weapons, and shaking dust off of the blankets and towels in on our rooms. It's also quite painful to be outside when a storm hits. We have specially equipped sun glasses that keep the sand out of our eyes, but any exposed skin feels like it's being sand blasted. When we come in from the outside, we shake out the sand from our hair and clothing which causes a mini sand storm in itself. Fortunately, the temperatures are still in the low 90's. When we walk outside in August during a sand storm, it feels like we've walked into a huge blow dryer. No matter what the weather, we're out walking from place to place. To get from my room to the dining hall, I have to walk a mile over gravel and sand. Sand storms make this walk a real pain. The worst is having to walk from my room to the bathroom in the middle of the night during a sand storm. By the time I get back to bed I'm covered in dust.

Right now many of you are busy with spring gardening chores. I will never again complain about having to mow a lawn or pull weeds. Anything is better than living in sand.

In Christ,

David

(Editorial note:  Having not heard from David in a few months, write to see how he was doing.  Here is his reply)

I'm doing OK. Things here are pretty busy. We have Sailors coming through constantly on their way home. I'm still doing classes on dealing with the trauma of war and reuniting with loved ones. I do a lot of individual counseling as well. Over 1000 counseling sessions since I arrived here. I also preach on Sundays at the 8:30 am service and at the 5:30 pm service. In addition, I've taken over 100 care packages to the guys who are recovering from the operations they have had in our hospital. Practically all of these packages have been sent from churches in our presbytery. 

Last week I was at the Kuwait City International Airport, filling in for another chaplain who needed a break. I would meet the airplane that arrived with the remains of our guys who have been killed in action.  A group of Marines and I would salute the flag draped casket and remove it from the airplane. Then I would go with the Soldiers who took the casket to the morgue at the airport. I would be with them when they opened the casket and pray for the family of the deceased. Then the Soldiers would repack the body bag with ice and put it in a refrigerator until a flight arrived to take it home. I would then spend time with these Soldiers doing grief counseling. 

A few hours later I would meet the airplane that would take the remains back home. I and a group of Marines would salute the flag draped casket and load it onto the airplane. After that, I would read Psalm 23 and pray for the family of the deceased. I have seen a lot of dead bodies in my time as a pastor. But I have never seen body parts fresh from the battle field. I had a hard time sleeping while I was there. I'm OK now. Overall, it was both gruesome and an honor to be there. Please pray for quick end to this war. 

God is still doing miracles here. Yesterday I prayed with a Sailor who asked Jesus Christ to be his Lord and Savior. He was on his way home to bewitch his sister who is about to die. She is married and has three children. Today I prayed with another Sailor who also asked Jesus to be his Lord and Savior. He has just come from the battle field in Afghanistan where he wa sin constant combat with the Taliban. He'll be home with his family soon.

I'm praying for you and the rest of the presbytery. It will be good to come home.

 In Christ, 

David

Dear All:

Some of you have been asking what I preach to the military personnel to whom I minister. Below is a sermon I preached at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait on September 9, 2007.

In Christ,

David

On my first day at the Navy Chaplains School, I was told an interesting joke: What's the difference between the Navy and the Boy Scouts?The Boy Scouts have adult supervision. Last week as I was working in my office space in Tent 4, a couple of incidents took place that illustrate the reality of this joke.

There are a lot of cubicles and desks in Tent 4 that are being used by other Sailors. It was a rather slow, quiet, and boring afternoon; until, some of the Sailors figured out that if they put a plastic bubble wand with soap on it up against the air conditioner, they could fill the tent with bubbles. As the bubbles flew through the air, they sang the song “Tiny Bubbles” at the top of their lungs until there were bubbles everywhere, popping against computers, desks, people, walls, you name it. Several hours later, these same Sailors saw a very poisonous scorpion just outside the tent door. For some reason they decided to try to catch it. Thankfully, the scorpion ran underneath an out house. I say thankfully because one of the Sailors pointed out that I was the only officer watching them. All of the other officers had hurriedly walked away to avoid being held accountable if the scorpion actually stung one of the Sailors.

The next morning I was told that one of these Sailors decided to crawl under the outhouse after I left. He took a flashlight and a back scratcher with which he tried to pull out the scorpion. The scorpion is still at large and the Sailor has been spending a lot of time scrubbing off the ill effects of his misadventure.  It is because of extracurricular activities such as these that the military focuses a lot of attention on what it means to be a leader. We’re taught slogans such as, “Leadership By Example”. We’re sent to leadership academies and officer leadership courses. We’re taught how to use programs such as, “Total Quality Leadership” and “Situational Leadership”. And as I’ve been traveling to various Army camps in Kuwait I can’t help but notice the signs that say: “Act like a leader”; “Look like a leader”; “Be a leader”; and “We need leadership not likership.” 

And yet our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rarely mentions leadership. Instead, Jesus spends a lot of time teaching about followership. In verses 26 and 27 of Luke chapter 14 we read: 

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

The Greek word for disciple that’s used in the original Greek translation of this passage is mathetes. In addition to disciple, mathetes also means learner or student. This is why Jesus’ disciples called Him rabbi which in Hebrew means teacher.

Being a student of Jesus doesn’t just mean learning about Jesus. We’re not disciples of Jesus if we get an “A” in Jesus 101 or if we score a 90% on the Jesus Exam. Being a student of Jesus means far more than knowing about Jesus. It means knowing Jesus personally. It means having a relationship with Jesus. It means following Jesus personally through life. Even if this means choosing to follow Jesus rather than following one’s own parents or spouse or children. It means following Jesus even if it involves carrying a cross of self sacrifice.

To illustrate His point, Jesus gives two analogies. The first is the analogy of a builder. In verses 28-30 of Luke 14 we read:

 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'  Here Jesus is making the point that if we follow Him, we need to commit to going all the way with Him. It costs a lot to follow Jesus. The Lord asks us to put Him first before everything in our lives.  If we say, “Yes, Lord I’ll follow you until it becomes inconvenient; or until it becomes uncomfortable; or until it becomes unacceptable to my loved ones” then what’s the point? We will end up looking as foolish as a builder who could not finish a building project because he did not calculate the affordability of the project before he started.

The second analogy that Jesus uses to illustrate what it means to follow Him is the analogy of a king who is about to go to war. In verses 31-33 of Luke chapter 14 Jesus says:   "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

In the analogy of the builder, all of the options lay with the builder. He could decide when to build, how to build, where to build, and so on. In the analogy of the king, the potential of war is forced upon him. Only a foolish king would choose to take on a superior force. So, the wise king will seek peace with the stronger foe.

In the same way, we have a more powerful One to deal with in our lives: God. And God forces the choice upon us: life or death. It is wise to count the cost of following Jesus before starting the journey of discipleship with Him. It is also wise to make peace with God by following Jesus while we still have the opportunity.

Yes, it costs a lot to follow Jesus. But it costs even more to go to war with God. “What will it profit you to gain the whole world, but lose your own soul?” Jesus asks in another passage.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor living in Nazi Germany when he had to answer this question of Jesus. Bonhoeffer was surrounded by lukewarm pastors and cultural Christians who supported Hitler in order to keep their jobs and positions in society.

They had read Hitler’s autobiography titled, Mien Kampf so they knew what Hitler stood for. They saw how Hitler was making war all over the world. They saw their Jewish friends disappearing. They had heard the rumors of the death camps. And yet, they did nothing. They went along with what was going on because to follow Jesus and oppose Hitler meant losing everything.

Bonhoeffer decided to follow the Lord. And so, he opposed Hitler in his preaching and in his writings. He even became involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler. Eventually, he and his co-conspirators were arrested by the Gestapo and hung without a trial.  In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer writes:

To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. … All that self-denial can say is: "He leads the way, keep close to Him."
"…and take up his cross." … Only when we have become completely oblivious of self are we ready to bear the cross for His sake. If in the end we know only Him, if we have ceased to notice the pain of our own cross, we are indeed looking only unto Him. If Jesus had not so graciously prepared us for this word, we should have found it unbearable. (Page 97.)

And then Bonhoeffer explains how bearing the cross is different for every Christian: But each has a different share: some God deems worthy of the highest form of suffering, and given them the grace of martyrdom, while others He does not allow to be tempted above that they are able to bear….

The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. … we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with His death—we give over our lives to death. … When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die. …death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man [or nature] at his call. .. In fact, every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and lusts. But we do not want to die…

The call to discipleship… means both death and life… [It] sets the Christian in the middle of the daily arena against sin and the devil. Every day he encounters new temptations, and every day he must suffer anew for Jesus Christ’s sake. The wounds and scars he receives in the fray are living tokens of this participation in the cross of his Lord. ( Page 99.)

When Dietrich Bonhoeffer finished his journey of discipleship, the Lord welcomed him home saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

This is the life of discipleship that our Lord is calling us to live. And as we follow the Lord, living as His disciples, we’ll discover that our lives are worth living.

Around 130 AD, a Christian writing under the pseudonym, Mathetes, which you remember from your earlier Greek lesson means, disciple, wrote a letter to someone named Diognetus. Many scholars believe that Diognetus was the tutor of Marcus Aurelius before he grew up to be the emperor of Rome.

In The Epistle To Diognetus, Mathetes describes the way his fellow Christians lived as disciples of Jesus:  For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking  method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring.  They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonored, and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honor; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

These disciples of the Lord, living in 130 AD, lived lives that were worth living. And in the end, they completed the journey of discipleship that ends in eternal life. All because they knew what it meant to follow Jesus.

As members of the military, we need to understand leadership. But as disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we need to practice followership.  It’s not easy to carry a cross. But as our Lord showed us, Good Friday leads to Easter Sunday.

We too, will one day lay down our crosses and be resurrected. We too, will enjoy the eternal life in heaven that came through the Cross of our Lord.

Dear All:

What's the difference between the Navy and the Boy Scouts? The Boy Scouts have adult supervision.

Right now I'm in our tent/office. There are a lot of cubicles and desks in here that are being used by other Sailors. It's a rather slow and boring afternoon. Some of the Sailors have just figured out that if they put a plastic bubble wand with soap on it up against the air conditioner, they can fill the tent with bubbles.

A couple of nights ago, they saw a very poisonous scorpion just outside the tent door. For some reason they decided to try to catch it. Thankfully, the scorpion ran underneath an out house. I say thankfully because one of the Sailors pointed out that I was the only officer watching them. All of the other officers hurriedly walked away to avoid being held accountable if the scorpion actually stung one of the Sailors.

My RP, RP1 Dombrosky, has been after me about exercising. He's the cross country coach at his high school and he's always giving my helpful fitness tips. He gets up at 4am to run every day. So this morning, I got up at 5:30am and I did 30 sit ups and 30 push ups. Then I ran 1 1/2 miles. Then I did 30 more sit ups and 30 more push ups. He said, "I'm proud of you, sir. By the time we go home you'll be running 6 miles without even breathing hard."  Right.

Last week, I was talking to a Marine and he ended up asking Jesus Christ to be his Lord and Savior. On Sunday, I baptized him by immersion during the 5:30pm service that I lead. He had never been baptized before. We used an old rickety baptistry that is set up outside the chapel. We put a plastic liner in it and the base fire department filled it up with water. I'm on an Army base and a lot of the Army chaplains came to see the baptism. They said they had never seen a baptism on the base before. Which, when you think about it, is pretty sad. Thank God the Navy has arrived.

Tomorrow I get up at 3am to leave at 4am to get a new group. When we get back, we'll take their gear and weapons. Sunday morning I'll give my briefs. In the afternoon I'll preach at the 5:30pm service. Monday morning, we help the Sailors go through US Customs in preparation for their flight home early the next morning. Tuesday I'm in a 911 Memorial service with some of the Army chaplains. Then Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we'll only work half days.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

In Christ,

David

The chaplain I am replacing, CDR Steve Wall-Smith, asked me to help him with his last worship service here. He said, "Would you like to read the scripture passage?" I said, "Sure, no problem. What is it?" He replied, "Song of Solomon, chapter 8." I said, "No really. What do you want me to read?" Then he said, "Really. I'm finishing up a sermon series on the Song of Solomon." So I read it.

My favorite part to read was verse 10, "My breasts are like towers...." In case you ever wondered, some scripture passages are hard for guys to relate to.

In Christ,

David

I'm starting to get into a routine here at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. As each group of Sailors comes to us, we spend the first day collecting all of the military gear that they have been issued and have to return.

For example, they return their sleeping bags, canteens, pack, etc. They get to keep their Camelback water bag and all of their military clothing. We also collect the weapons that they were issued in the US. They really appreciate getting rid of around 200 lbs of gear. Then they change into civilian clothing and relax for the rest of the day. There is a pool, movie theater, shopping mall (small with only a few shops), library, gyms, telephone, and internet access for them to use.

The next day I give them two briefings: Warrior Transition and Return/Reunion. The Warrior Transition brief basically tells them that they have been though a very stressful situation and a great way to deal with this is by talking about it with people who are safe.

The Return/Reunion Brief basically tells them that their reunion with their families and coworkers back home will go smoothly if they have realistic expectations So, they are encouraged to phone home and discuss their expectations with their families and to listen to the expectations that their families have.

After that, they are given briefings on suicide awareness, safe driving in the US, the heath risks they have been exposed to out here, and Navy paperwork/pay issues, i.e they will no longer receive combat pay at home. After all of this, they go to lunch and have the afternoon off.

The next day they meet with Navy Shore Patrol officials who are also US Customs Officers. They have to empty their sea bags (green duffel bags) and the customs officers inspect everything they are bringing home. They are not allowed to bring back anything that's alive (except themselves), dirt, rocks, drugs, alcohol, pornography, ammunition, Cuban cigars, etc. They can only bring back war trophies that have been given a written letter of approval, i.e. enemy uniform items, weapons, flags, shrapnel, etc. Before the inspection begins, the customs oficers tell them what is prohibited and then they are given the opportunity to put any prohibited items into an "Amnesty Box" with no questions asked. The customs officers want everyone to go home and they don't want to have to do a lot of paperwork because someone is caught smuggling something in their sea bag. After the inspection, their sea bags are taken to the airport and loaded onto a plane.

The Sailors have the afternoon off and then they return to the customs area in the evening to wait for their transportation to the airport and their trip home. As you can imagine, these Sailors have a lot of time during which they are waiting around. This is when I talk with them about their experiences and determine who needs to see one of the social workers on our team. I also spend time with them during their free afternoons and in the dining hall.

When we don't have a group of Sailors in our program, I visit the brig and the convelescent barracks on our base. The people who run the brig are Sailors and I am their chaplain. The inmates are US military personnel from Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. Some are awaiting trial and some have been convicted and are serving 30 day sentences before they return to their units or are sent home for discharge. Others are awaiting transportation home where they will serve sentences that are longer than 30 days.

The Army chaplains on our base are visiting these inmates and providing them with Bible studies, counseling, and worship services. The convelescent barracks is for US military personnel from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait. They are recuperating from their operations at the hospital on our base. Some of them have had knee surgery or hernia surgery. Others have been shot or wounded by improvised explosive devices (IED's) while they were traveling in convoys. Some of these people will be returning to combat and others will go home. Some are worried about going back into combat, while others can't wait to get back to their buddies who are getting shot at. Some are heart sick about going home and leaving their buddies who are still in combat, while others are relieved that they can finally be go home.

Whenever I receive a care package from home, I will share it with these wounded heroes. Please keep us in your prayers.

In Christ,

David

Dear All:

I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing fine out here. I've had bronchitis for the past week. I saw a Navy doctor and he gave me some antibiotics, cough medicine and an inhaler. I'm feeling a lot better. I had a recheck today and the doctor says my lungs sound good. However, I am now being treated for a sinus infection with a new set of antibiotics. The doctor told me to stay out of dusty areas and so I asked, "You mean like the Middle East?" I also told him that I thought I was allergic to Kuwait. I was really in the mood to get out of the 125 degree heatand 5% humidity, but it didn't work.

Oh, well. I am in a new living space. I have a corner of a big barracks building all to myself. There are large wall lockers (4 feet wide, 7 feet tall) all around mybunk bed. I also have my own refrigerator and freeinternet. There are rugs on the floor and a window in the wall. I am really enjoying my little piece of heaven. I'm looking forward to putting up some posters of oceans, lakes, rivers, trees, mountains, grass, etc. All I see around here is a flat, brown desertlandscape.

I have already given 2 Warrior Transition briefs and 2 Return/Reunion briefs to 65 Sailors and Marines who are on their way home. The Warrior Transition brief basically tells people to talk about their experiences in a combat zone as a way of helping them to cope with their combat stress.

People who do not talk about their experiences can end up developing Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). During World War II, those returning from combat had a long ride home on a ship during which they could talk with each other about their experiences. During the Viet Nam Conflict, a soldiers would be in combat one day and then 48 hours later they would be backhome with their families. As a result, they were notable to talk about their experiences with the people who had shared them or who would be able to understand them. Because of this, many Viet Nam vets developed PTSD as a result of the stress they experienced incombat.

The Return/Reunion brief highlights the need to have realistic expectations about going home. For example, Sailors need to talk with their loved ones about the welcome they would like to receive at the airport and who they would like to see during their first week home. Some want to have only their immediate family meet them, while others would like all of their friends to be there. Likewise, some spouses expect to have a week of alone time with their returning Sailor with no visitors. As long as these and many othe rexpectations are understood by everyone, the return/reunion will go smoothly.

I have also led a Bible study and conducted 85 counseling sessions. Next week I will be responsiblefor the 8:30am liturgical protestant worship service. In addition to all of this, I will be visiting people in the brig and in the convalescent barracks. I will also be visiting our Sailors who are at the Kuwaiti Naval Base nearby. Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement.I can't do this important ministry without yoursupport.

In Christ,

David

I've been living at Camp Arifjan, a US Army Base, for about a week now. I'm working with Sailors who have left Iraq and Afghanistan and are waiting for a flight home. These Sailors are known as Individual Augmentees and they have been taken from their US Navy assignments to help Army units. It's hard for Sailors to get used to the culture and customs of the Army. For example at 6am the Army actually plays reveille over loud speakers. You never hear this on a Navy base.

Today I spent 3 hours taking an on-line Army driving course that is required in order to drive a car or SUV on any Army base in the Middle East. There was a lot in the course about driving in snow, sleet, rain, freezing fog, ice, and hail. There was nothing about driving in the desert. The only reason I know about the desert is because I've spent my entire Navy career with the Marines, training in the Mojave desert and then serving in Iraq with them in 2005. Most of the Sailors here have no prior experience in the desert. My commanding officer was the captain of a destroyer before he came here.

A lot of the other Sailors have come here from submarines. No wonder the Army drill sergeants at Ft Jackson, SC made us sing this when we ran:

Oh, mamma look and see

What the Army has done to me.

They took away my submarine

Now I'm carrying an M16

Thanks for praying for us. We need it.

In Christ,

David

Dear All:

I made it safely to Kuwait at 11:30am on July 30. I am at a transition camp until Saturday. Then I will move in to my room at Camp Arifjan where I will be for 6 months. We are getting used to the weather- it's 120 degrees. We will also spend two days at a remote base learning convoy operations and combat training. We will be there for two days, sleeping on the ground with no showers. I have done this a lot with the Marines in the Mojave desert during the summer. This is no big deal for me, but some of the other Sailors here are stressing out over our upcoming trip. Some of them were working on submarines before they got here to help out the Army. There are troops from Denmark, the UK, Poland, Georgia, Korea, and Fiji at this base.

It's fun to spend time with them in the dining hall. I led a worship service before we left the US on Sunday. I preached from chapter one of the Book of Joshua. Moses had just died and Joshua has to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. God told Joshua several times to not be afraid because He would be with him. I thought this would be good for us to keep in mind as we were about to cross the waters of the Atlantic and enter the Middle East. Several Sailors asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior and we celebrated communion together.

I am praying for you. I miss you all.

David

There are photos of me at: www.mainetroopgreeters.com Check out July 29, 2007 on this page (see David below and troop greeters). We flew through Bangor Maine on the way to Kuwait. When we landed, we were greeted at the airport by a group of American Legion Post #200 members and a crowd of cheering people. They formed two lines and we walked between the lines as we entered the terminal. They shook our hands and told us that they were proud of us.

When we left, we walked through their lines again and they gace us Bibles and told us that we were heros and that they would be praying for us. There wern't many dry eyes as we got back on the plane for the long flight to Kuwait.

David

July 28, 2007:

ON THE ROAD AGAIN I have finally finished my two week Navy Individual Augmentee Combat Training Course at Ft Jackson, SC. I have spent two fun filled weeks with US Army drill sargeants learining things like the low crawl and the high crawl. The low crawl involves moving on one's stomach while having one's head, stomach, arms, and legs remaining on the ground. The high crawl involves all of this except one is allowed to raise one's head and use one's elbows to move forward. As entertaining as this sounds, it's nothing compaired to the long road marches while wearing 60 pounds of body armor. I've also had training in combat first aid, covoy operations, arresting insurgents, and how to survive if I am caputred. In a few hours I'll get on a plane for Kuwait. I'm looking forward to ministering to the troops who are on their way home from Iraq.

You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

In Christ, David

July 19, 2007:

Please pray for HM2 Jennifer Torres. She has just been diagnosed with Acute Lukemia. She is a psychiatric technician and a member of the team that is going to Kuwait with me. She started bruising and then she developed a nose bleed that wouldn't stop. She was taken to the hospital and she has been diagnosed with lukemia. This all happened on Tuesday. She will not go with us to Kuwait. Instead she will stay at the local hospital in Columbia, SC and begin chemotherapy. She has an 8yr old daughter who is living with her parents in New Mexico. When she is well enough, she will be sent to Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego.

In Christ, David