Chaplains Commission Weekly Update – 5/28/10
Saturday, May 29, 2010 at 8:59 am
Choice Christian Greetings!
Over these many years of ministerial service to the church and to the world, we have attempted, among many things, to protect human dignity, at all cost. While our vast programs are important; with chaplaincy ministries in 73 countries, 13 different chaplaincy courses, now having been taken by more than 7,000 pastors and laity, nothing is as important in our chaplaincy service, than one-on-one ministry. The bottom line is the fact that everything begins and ends with that single act of chaplaincy ministry; whether with a soldier in a combat zone, an inmate on death row, a dying patient in one of our many hospital settings, or, that Clinical Pastoral Education student who is under the supervision of one of our chaplaincy trainers. How we treat individuals, one-on-one, tells us how important this vast ministry is.
In 1968, I was a resident in a one-year CPE program at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. One of the units that I covered was the Children’s Leukemia Unit. There were some 35 children on this special unit; all of them going through bone marrow transplants, chemo-therapy, and other forms of treatment. Unfortunately, during my one-year experience in this special ministry setting, a good number of those kids died. Most of them died from secondary illnesses; the common cold, pneumonia or some other disease or virus. While many of the treatment programs had been perfected, we had not perfected a germ-free environment; whereby, the kids could be protected from these secondary illnesses.
One of my patients was a beautiful 15-year-old girl from Iowa. In my many conversations with her, she re-committed her life to the Lord, and then asked me to baptize her. I thought that was great; but, to my utter shock, my CPE Supervisor told me that the parents had restricted me from seeing their child. Her request for baptism, in their minds, called into question her infant baptism in the Reformed church tradition. I was devastated. But, my wise supervisor stated, “This restriction does not apply to her parents.” To make a long story short, I began to see her parents; and, after many visits with them, hearing their grief and their own personal struggles with the pending death of their beautiful daughter, the father stated, “Chaplain Crick, you can now visit our daughter.” I will never forget that wonderful baptismal service; conducted, as you would imagine, somewhat in the Reformed tradition style, with a Reformed chaplain assisting me in the baptism. Staff, doctors, nurses, and lots of other kids, celebrated this young lady’s reaffirmation of her faith; and baptism. Unfortunately, she died a few weeks later.
This case, among my 50 years of similar cases of chaplaincy ministry, underscores the fact that we must always honor the dignity of the individual; but also, honor the context out of which we find those individuals. Deny that individual dignity and his/her network of relationships, and, you fail in even getting out of the gate as a chaplain. Thank God for chaplaincy; over these years, we have attempted to protect human dignity.
Church of God Chaplains Commission and World Missions Responds to Haiti
Our Chaplains Commission Disaster Response Teams continue to minister to the trauma and devastation in Haiti. Our first “team” has already given debriefing to some 100 pastors, students, and other Haitian leaders. Phase Two of our one-year Disaster Response Program will begin late June; where we will have a “full team” response to the city of Port-au-Prince, and its surrounding areas. The chaplains who will be part of this Disaster Response ministry will be working "boots on the ground." This program will involve daily debriefings, teaching and care. We will not have the luxury of staying at a hotel, but rather at a Chaplains Commission Command Center, which is being erected by the Chaplains Commission and World Missions Departments. In this new Center, our volunteers will receive special training that will prepare them mentally, emotionally and spiritually for this awesome task.
This vast one-year project is a faith venture, in partnership with the World Missions Department. We are appealing to all of our full-time and volunteer chaplains to sacrificially contribute to this task. The hurricane season is upon the Haitian people; therefore the needs will soon be even greater. A response of love and donations are needed today.
Send your donations to:
Chaplains Commission Haitian Disaster Response Project
PO Box 3330
Cleveland, TN 37320-3330
Romanian Chaplaincy and Care Center Dedicated
On May 21st and 22nd, a special celebration was held in Oradea, Romania. The Church of God Chaplains Commission, along with key persons from the World Missions Department, the Care Division, Romanian leadership, as well as others, dedicated a project that has been seven years in the making.
The Commission has never taken on a project before of this magnitude. It entailed the raising of $1,500,000, to complete a beautiful and very functional facility. But it is more than brick and mortar. On Saturday morning, May 22nd, this facility was dedicated for the three-fold mission of: (1) chaplaincy programs and training, (2) a fully-equipped medical clinic for some of Romania’s poorest families; and, (3) benevolent goods and services to be distributed to Romanians during disasters and other crises.
I wish all of you could visit and be a part of this facility and ministries. The funds for this project came from several major donors; but, hundreds of others, who gave faithfully five or ten dollars per week, as a symbol of the fact that “they care.” Already, humanitarian aid is being provided through the center from organizations such as Operation Compassion, Samaritan’s Services (Germany), Assist International, as well as other agencies. During this celebration, we conducted a chaplaincy course for some 50 individuals; representing all types of chaplaincy ministries throughout Romania. In addition to reaching Romania, chaplaincy courses and programs will be offered to Moldova, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, as well as other parts of Europe.
The chaplaincy center houses an administrator’s residence, as well as complete missions dormitory for a team of up to 16 members. The first floor of this state of the art building houses a medical missions suite, with some ten beds, medical equipment that has already been donated, including sonogram, EKG, blood pressure instruments and IV towers. Courses and conferences of up to 125 people can be accommodated in the chaplaincy training areas. Along with Dr. Crick, participating in this remarkable day was Reverend Tom Offutt, whose contributions to this project were acknowledged at the honors dinner the evening before the dedication. Other major donors included the Lazarus Foundation, Dr. & Mrs. John Gregory, the Stratford Heights Church of God, Middletown, Ohio, with Senior Pastors W.D. Watkins and Ray Phillips, and, a World Missions Fund Drive, which raised more than $50,000 from various churches and individuals in the US.
Those participating in the dedication and ribbon cutting were: Robert Crick, Donnie Smith, Executive Director, Church of God Care Division, Victor Pagan, Assistant Director, Church of God World Missions, Pavel Rivis Tipei, Overseer of the Pentecostal Churches in Romania, Radu V. Tirle, Governor of Bihor County, Romania, and one of those that had the original vision for this center, David Kemp, Senior Pastor, Fort Mill Church of God, South Carolina, and also representing the Chaplains Commission’s Board of Directors, and Missionary Robert Schmidt and his wife Caroline. Other special guests included Tim Hill, First Assistant General Overseer, Fidencio Burgueño, and his wife Dora, Director of Church of God Hispanic Ministries, Jimmy DuPree, Professor and Director of Student Services, Pentecostal Theological Seminary, Don Williams, Chaplaincy Coordinator for England, Shane Smith, Senior Pastor, Souls Harbor Church of God, Florida, Otto Pesel, Faculty, European Theological Seminary, as well as various members from the family of Tom and Elaine Offutt, Church of God Chaplains Commission Ministries Director of Special Projects and Prayer and Family Care. Also present were Johnny Buia, Senior Pastor of the Romanian Pentecostal Church of God, Dearborn Heights, Michigan, Vasile Floarea, Romanian Chaplaincy Consultant, Jake and Becky Popejoy, Church of God Chaplains Commission Ministries Director of Training and CSC, and Ashley Shoemake, Chaplains Commission Administrative Coordinator.
But as stated, beyond brick and mortar, we are excited now that the center is “fully operational.” Our special thanks goes to those who gave sacrificially for a facility that will service our chaplaincy and other care needs for many years ahead.
Other Chaplaincy News
· Church of God Army Chaplain (COL) David Smartt, in a special ceremony held this past Wednesday, became the US Army Chaplain Center and School’s new Commandant. In attendance at this special ceremony were Army Chief of Chaplains Douglas Carver, Church of God Chaplains Commission Board Member, Army Chaplain (COL) Richard Pace, along with Chaplain Smartt’s wife Merial, and all of their kids and grandkids. We will be featuring a special story of this significant ceremony in next week’s Faith News. You may send your notes of congratulations to Chaplain Smartt, as he takes on the responsibility as the Director of the US Army Chaplains School and Center, to david.smartt@us.army.mil
· Army Chaplain (MAJ) Roderick Swanson, currently at the US Army Chaplains School, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, will be assigned to a 15-month Family Life Residency Program, Fort Benning, Georgia.
· Prison Chaplain Dr. Betty Standifer, Chattanooga, Tennessee, sent this report: “Two weeks ago a young woman gave her heart to the Lord. We sat on her cot and talked a long time. She is very young. She has been into drugs and prostitution for a number of years. It has been 11 years since she has been in a church service. One interesting, but sad situation, in this girl’s life, surfaced when I asked her if she had been reading her Bible. She pulled a Bible out of a box (this is an area where the inmates keep all of their belongings). I asked her to read to me any Scripture. She opened the Bible and tried to read…then looked at me and said, ‘I was in special education while in school. I can’t read these big words in the Bible.’ I would say that her reading is at a second grade level. I managed to get her a Bible in a language more at her reading level. This young woman, along with so many female inmates, needs a touch from the Lord in all areas of their lives. Also, as I was leaving the prison, one of the guards asked me ‘Do you still have me covered with your prayers?’ I told her yes, that many are praying for her. My prayer is that God will have mercy on these women; and the staff that is working under such stressful requirements.”
· Army Chaplain (CPT) Ismael Serrano, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, returned a few weeks ago from a one-year deployment to Iraq. On April 9, his family arranged for a post-deployment celebration at the seminary, with many friends and family who came to give God the praise for his protection during a most successful deployment ministry.
Prison Chaplain Raymond Lankford: With The Lord
Prison Chaplain Raymond Lankford was one of our early pioneers in developing outstanding prison ministries. At the age of 73, he passed away in Cleveland, Tennessee, May 17th, 2010. He served more than 25 years with the Department of Corrections for Mississippi. He was preceded in death by his wonderful prison ministries partner, Florence Lankford. Family, friends and fellow chaplains, celebrated in his home-going, at a funeral held in Charleston, South Carolina. As you would suspect, knowing this wonderful chaplain, husband, father and grandfather, he was buried next to his favorite gal, Florence.
Finally
This weekend, we take time on Memorial Day to give thanks to the thousands of Veterans, many who gave their lives for our freedom. As I was completing my work this week, I got a surprise phone call from Ed Carns; who is presently a doctor at a Lawton, Oklahoma, prison. This was a voice out of the past, going back to 1966. Ed, a graduate of West Point, was on his way to becoming an outstanding line officer. In a combat situation, in which I was a part, Ed took machine gun rounds to both of his legs. He spent over a year recuperating, and, was forced to change his career. With the military’s assistance, upon recovering, he was allowed to complete medical school, internship, and finally a residency in family medicine. For about an hour, Ed and I swapped old war stories; the good, the bad and the ugly. But more than that, we celebrated how God took a tragedy and turned it into a victory.
While recuperating in the hospital, he met a dynamic Christian girl; married her, and together, they brought into the world and raised three children. Again and again, we both agreed, God certainly was in on our deployment to Vietnam; and all those other circumstances in which God kept us alive for another day; and, the ministries that God directed to us. I give God the praise for our Veterans, such as Dr. Carns, who was redirected into the more perfect will of God as the result of a tragedy on an unnamed hill in Vietnam. Thank you Veterans; and, all of our military personnel, to include our military chaplains. May this Memorial Day signal for all of us that “Freedom isn’t cheap.” It comes with a price; beginning with the Lord Jesus Christ, His life, death and resurrection, and, continues to live on in the hearts of men and women who are our “unsung heroes.” May this be a special Memorial Day for all of us “old vets.”
Sincerely,
Robert D. Crick
Weekly Bible Verse
Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
Colossians 4:2 (NLT)
Contacts
Director, Dr. Robert D. Crick, cricksot@att.net
Full-time Chaplaincy, Dr. Jerry McNabb, jmcnabb@cogchaplains.com
Community Service Chaplaincy and Training, Dr. Jake Popejoy, jakepopejoy@aol.com
Public Relations and Recruitment, wroberson@cogchaplains.com
Special Projects, Reverend Tom Offutt, tomoffutt@att.net
Prayer and Family Care, Elaine Offutt, elaineoffutt@att.net
General Information, chapcm@cogchaplains.com
Web Site/Page: www.cogchaplains.com
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