Larry Gleason
At the October 7 Men’s Christian Fellowship meeting Chaplain, Major David Barns, Deputy Wing Commander at Luke Air Force Base, shared a touching account of his deployment in Afghanistan titled My Desert Experience: A Lesson in Blessings. He was deployed in Afghanistan for 205 days in 2014. Upon arriving in Kandahar in March, Chaplain Barns recalled that often in biblical history God has used a desert experience to mold believers in His image and increase their faith. Ultimately, through these experiences, individuals such as Moses, David and John the Baptist had their faith grow and their character strengthened. In his own desert experience Chaplain Barns stated that he saw God touch his life in many unexpected ways. In Kandahar, the USAF base is located among other NATO-member bases. Next to the U.S. base is a Georgian base and, due to their differences in culture, language and life experiences, there was often confrontation between the two countries’ soldiers. Georgia and the U.S. shared a building which the U.S. used for church services. Despite language differences, through patience and persistence, Chaplain Barns was eventually able to develop friendships with several Georgians who worked in the building. From this experience he came to realize too often we focus on the differences others have with us when we should be focusing on our similarities. In Jalabad Chaplain Barns had the opportunity to provide Communion to Christians who came from different faith backgrounds as compared to his traditional Baptist upbringing. From this experience he recognized that too often Christians from different backgrounds try to convince other Christians to change to “their way” versus reassuring them that Christ is with them, too. Chaplain Barns discussed the challenges chaplains face trying to support soldiers who were injured or wounded during their deployment and the even greater challenge chaplains face supporting the families and friends of men and women who lost their lives in Afghanistan. Chaplain Barns stated during his deployment, “God taught him that in the midst of tragedy there are blessings and even miracles.” He shared examples of miracles that occurred in the desert, both from a biblical perspective as well as from his personal experience in Afghanistan. He noted the desert can leave people dry, weary and broken and while all of us will have desert times in our lives, our faith and support from God will get us through those challenging days.
Chaplain Barns answered questions from the Fellowship about challenges chaplains are facing in the U.S. military. Examples he cited include: atheist groups trying to remove all religion from the military; challenges surrounding same-sex couples and some military leaders who don’t want to have the name of Jesus used in any invocations or other similar circumstances. He concluded that the chaplains are working hard to maintain opportunities to share the word of Christ. MFC President Tom Chapman asked the Fellowship to continue to pray for the military chaplains.
At their November 4 meeting the Fellowship is pleased to have Mr. Ed Sampson from PebbleCreek presenting The Reality of the Christian Walk After the Four Gospels. Ed grew up seeking the reality of Christ in the Christian world in Catholicism, Episcopal Church, Community Church, Pentecostal free groups and finally finding that reality of the Lord outside of traditional Christianity. Since being saved in 1968 he has searched out the truth from not only the Bible but also from noted biblical Christian writers. Ed feels he has found the truth concerning not only full salvation but also the church in its local and universal expression. His presentation will focus on the vision of the Apostle Paul’s New Testament ministry. In addition to his local church, Ed is active in various Bible studies. All PebbleCreek men are invited to attend the meeting which will be held at 7:30 a.m. in the Tuscany Falls Chianti Room.