Prayer Guides Hit the Road with Troops Heading Overseas
 The process of military deployment is no small thing for soldiers and for the families and friends they leave behind. Recently, Rich Cohrs, manager for district and congregational relations for Lutheran Hour Ministries' U.S. Ministries Division, had the chance to help ease that critical separation between soldiers and their loved ones. He hand-delivered 1,000 LHM prayer guides to Gary C. Williams, 35th Signal Brigade Chaplain with the U.S. Army at Fort Gordon, Georgia.
The prayer guide Those Who Serve, penned by Pastor Ken Klaus, offers words of reflection and encouragement on service, country, military life, comrades, battle, holidays and significant family anniversary days, along with a series of texts to use throughout the week.
"These booklets will be given to the soldiers and family members of the 35th Signal Brigade," Williams said. "The prayer guides will be given particularly to the 67th Signal Battalion (about 500 soldiers) and the 35th Signal Brigade HQs unit (about 100 soldiers), both located here at Fort Gordon."
"The prayer guides are one of many different resources we put on a chaplain resource table the day the soldiers depart the U.S. The prayer guides are offered to soldiers, their spouses, and some of their children," Williams said. "Deployment day is emotional and sometimes hard to gauge for soldiers. Those who have never deployed experience fears and thoughts they have never had to deal with and hence the prayer guides offer a message of hope in Christ our Savior. Many soldiers are unchurched and these kinds of resources might very likely be the first time they have encountered the Good News of forgiveness in Christ," he added.
For Cohrs, there was an immediate sense the prayer guides would be put to good use. "I felt honored to be able to provide this resource. The soldiers who looked over the booklet were encouraged and thankful to receive this guide. I know they will be a blessing to those men and women who are deployed," he said.
Lutheran Hour Ministries serves U.S. Service members by broadcasting a special version of The Lutheran Hour called "Bringing Christ to the Nations" on the American Forces Network; find out more at www.lutheranhour.org/AFN. U.S. Service members and their families may also find advice and comfort on a variety of concerns in LHM's helpful topical booklet series. At the same Web site, just click the Resources for You link.
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