“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10).

What is the reality of the Christian life? It is not that we will materially prosper and be above those around us. No, it is that we will feel the reality of the war of principalities and powers because of the hatred for the Lord that is in the world. Through all we may endure, we have the promise that the Lord is with us and that we are never forsaken. Jesus is manifest in those who believe.

I am often perplexed when things go awry and the prayers I pray seem to have an opposite answer from what I expect. Lead me, Lord, to learn how to be faithful through all things knowing that all things are in Your hands. Help me to learn to keep my eyes upon You and not upon what the world is doing. Help me to learn how to stand steadfast in and through all things because You are with me.

Lord Jesus, You know what it is to experience these things, for You experienced them in Your earthly life. Guide me, Lord, in the way You know I need to go. Help me to persevere through all the tribulations of this world knowing that only in You is there hope and a future. Through all things, let me know that I am never forsaken and that You are there, with me and for me. Guide me in the way of Your salvation. Amen.

Prayers of the Church, 9^th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 13 – August 2, 2020

Let us pray for the church, the world, and all people according to their need.

A brief silence is kept.

Heavenly Father, thank you for daily bread that nourishes soul and body. Thank you for the Bread of Life, Jesus your Son. Give us this bread always. Help us share with those who are famished.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Feed your Church with the Bread of Heaven. Refresh it with living water. Heal it with the wine of forgiveness. Nourish it with the milk of your kindness. Then, send the Church into the world, to invite those who do not yet know you to drink from the waters of salvation and feast on the bread of life.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

We pray for Christians around the world who are imprisoned and killed because they name Jesus as Lord. Bestow on them your steadfast love and, so that they may be bold, faithful, and gracious in their witness to their Savior. Help us to serve, defend and provide for them however we can.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Make the people of this congregation hungry for your truth and thirsty for your mercy. Let us feast upon Jesus in Word and Sacrament. And then, make us overflow with holy love, so we eagerly share him with those who need it most.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

There are so many hungry people! Bless every food pantry, community garden, meal program, and aid organization that feeds the hungry. Help us to endow poor communities with skills and resources, to feed themselves and be a blessing to many others.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Teach the leaders of the nations to incline their ears to you; to rightly lead their people; and to seek that good which endures. Give them the desire and the means to provide food, jobs, education, and safety for those entrusted to their care. And grant to all people those good things which sustain life and hope.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Jesus’ disciples learned his power by obeying his command to feed the people. We are his disciples, too. We’re sometimes overwhelmed by the size of the task: so many hungry, hurting people! And we’re daunted by our resources: we’re so small, old, limited, untutored! Give us the obedient hearts of the first disciples. Help to follow Jesus by little steps: Sitting, praying, listening, sharing, gathering. Remind us that Jesus will take, break, and bless our small gifts, and use them to feed a world starved for him.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Grant refreshment, strength, and healing to everyone who struggles with any sort of adversity. Especially we lift before you the needs of: {List}. Give compassion and competence to all who care for them. And hasten the day when they may joyfully say, “You remembered us in our low estate, for your mercy endures forever; and delivered us from our enemies, for your mercy endures forever.”

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Heavenly Father, keep in your care all who have died trusting in your promises. Turn our sorrow into joy, and our tears to laughter. Have compassion on us. Nourish, sustain, guide, and protect us. Teach us to care for each other tenderly. Gather us around your Son, to receive every good gift from his wounded hands. Let him lead us, and all your people, to the festal table you have prepared. There may we eat and drink and gaze upon him, our heart’s desire, forever.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Hear our prayer, O Father, and grant all that glorifies you and builds up your people. This we ask for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Prayers of the Church, 8^th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 12 – July 26, 2020

Let us lift our hearts, hands, and voices in prayer to God on behalf of all people.

A brief silence is kept.

Dear Father, thank you for giving to your Chosen People Israel the gorgeous pearl of your holy Word in Torah, Prophets, and Writings. Thank you for enfleshing your Word most perfectly in the great Pearl beyond all price, your dear son Jesus. Thank you for making us, through him, into your pearl your hidden treasure, your beloved people!

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Make the Church lovely with Jesus’ goodness. May it always treat your Word and Sacraments as precious, living treasures, not as dusty relics or as optional bric-a-brac. By the gracious power of your Spirit, draw many to faith in Jesus, so they may never be separated from your love.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

We pray for our persecuted sisters and brothers, who face “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword.” Make them more than conquerors through the Cross of Christ; and soften the hearts of those who torment them.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Keep this congregation in your care, knowing that nothing can separate us from your love for us in Christ Jesus. Use our words and deeds to share that love with those around us who need it most.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Bless your people the Jews. You chose them not because they were great but because you loved them; and from them you brought forth the pearl of great price, even Jesus Christ your dear Son. Enfold your people in your protective and loving embrace; and bring them and us into the fulness of joy you have prepared for those who love you.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Establish your justice among the nations, O Lord; and do not let the scepter of evil hold sway over us. Establish your justice among rulers of countries and captains of industry; among leaders in every field of inquiry and endeavor; and among your people everywhere. Turn our hearts from evildoing and crooked ways; and fix them firmly upon faith toward you and fervent love toward one another.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

We pray for justice, concord, and safety to flourish in this land. We pray for wrongdoers to be held accountable for their deeds, and to repent of them. We pray for wise words, not inflamed rhetoric, from our leaders. We pray for constructive decisions, not rash actions or empty gestures, from those entrusted with authority. We pray for those who risk their lives on behalf of others, that even in difficult circumstances they exhibit integrity and valor. We pray that in all circumstances, your will be done.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

We pray for the sick, injured, dying and bereaved; for the troubled, confused, lonely, or despairing; and for everyone who struggles with the tribulations of this life – especially {List}. Help us to show them, in word and deed, that though the world seems against them, you are for them; you love them; you justify them; and you shall indeed make them more than conquerors.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Most Holy Father, we remember before you our departed loved ones. Remember your faithfulness and loving-kindness to us, though we are in the thousandth generation of those whom you have named as your own. Teach us to eagerly seek and dearly treasure your Son, our Pearl of great price. Whatever trials we endure in this life, grant that blessed outcome promised to all who love you. In your great mercy, bring us into your Kingdom. There, with all the redeemed, may we rejoice in your love and delight in you forever.

Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.

Receive and graciously answer our prayer, heavenly Father, for the sake of your dear Son; and by the power of your Holy Spirit, give us the strength and will to accomplish whatever you call us to do. Amen.

“For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:5-6).

We do not preach ourselves. In our day, many have forgotten that it is about Jesus. There may be good preachers, but what is that? There may be good programs, but so what? It is all about Jesus and we are reminded that Jesus is the One who saves us. Come into the light who is Christ and walk ever more deeply in the knowledge of God which He grants through the Holy Spirit and put on the face of Christ.

Lord, I am often dazzled by the salesmanship of our age and forget that it is about Jesus. Lead me Lord in the right way that I may be guided by You and not by the nonsense of this world. Help me to understand that in You alone is all hope and glory. Guide me in Your goodness to walk humbly with You wherever You lead and learn those things which You will teach me.

Lord Jesus, You are the One who has come into the world and You are the only One who saves. Although I may enjoy other things, help me to never forget that it is You who does these things. In all that I do Lord, may I always see that You are first and then all these things are added. May Your light shine through me that the world may see my good works and glorify the Father in heaven. Amen.

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

There is great mystery. We probably know much less than we think and the mystery of God is much greater, but what has been revealed has been revealed for us, and there are those who see the mystery and those who will not. Do not focus upon what others will not believe, but upon the revelation of the mystery that the Lord has granted you. Walk in the light of His revelation.

Lord, it is a strange thing, but I am often influenced by what others do not believe. Help me to humbly and simply believe what You have revealed. In this age of wickedness, it is so easy to be carried away by the thoughts and actions of others. Lead me Lord in Your light and the knowledge that all things have their being in and through You. You alone are God and in You alone is light and life.

Lord Jesus, You have come to shine light into the world. All things have their being through You. Guide me in the revelation You have given that I may be influenced by You and not by the world. Hold me fast to You that I may walk with You and not be led by the wickedness of this world. Through all things, may I walk with You in the mysteries of life and eternity. Amen.

“Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:1-2).

Each is called according to God’s grace and mercy. Each according to their own gifts are invited to come into the presence of God and live in the light of His countenance. How then should we live knowing these things? Come away from the arrogance of this age and see that in the Lord, who is light and life, there is the way of living that is true life. Know that only in Him is there a future.

Lord, I come at things from my own self-perspective. Move me out of myself and into the ministry You have for me. Guide me according to Your goodness to live this life of faith that I may abide in Your grace and mercy. Bring my conscience to the place where it is clear before You and willingly seeking the things that are pleasing in Your sight. Let not anything be hidden by me, for it is all seen by You.

Lord Jesus, this day and every day I need what You alone are able to do. Lift me up to walk humbly and boldly with Your guidance that I may be seen by others abiding in You. Though those around me may not live as they ought, let me not be like them, but live knowing that I live always in the life You have given me. Guide me, O Lord, that I may live the life of faith and please the Father in heaven. Amen.

Editor’s Note: Jacob Moorman is 22 years old and hails from Mt. Airy, MD. Jacob is finishing a business management degree and plans to attend seminary. He is a member of the NALC’s River’s Edge Ministries pastored by K. Craig Moorman. We are delighted that one of our future seminarians is thinking and writing so passionately. We are honored to publish his reflections, and look forward to his faithful leadership in the Church for many years to come.

Just after the protesting and rioting began after the death of George Floyd, my father asked me, “Jacob, if you were to preach tomorrow, what would you say?” This is how I answered:

I would preach the Gospel. I would preach that we, apart from Christ, are indeed dead in sin. I would say Christ’s scandalous, unfathomable, incredible love is most evident when shown in situations like this. With death, riots, looting, violence, anger, and vehement hate; the only response we should have is that which Christ had. For Christ says ‘… love thine enemies. Pray for them.’ On the cross, His love was magnified as He said, ‘Forgive them for they know not what they do.’ He died for us while we were yet sinners. He died for us while we were His enemies. There’s talk of race war. There’s talk of division. It is a lie, or it ought to be [revealed as such] in the Church. It is a demonic onslaught meant to divide and divert from the true Gospel. We, as the Church, are bound up in Christ. We are One in and by His Spirit. We should pray for our enemies. We should love our enemies. But, above all else, we should preach the Good News unashamedly, boldly, unwaveringly, and continuously. The only division from God is the division of Good and evil, Light and dark. His word pierces as a sword through sinew. It cuts deeply and definitively. It separates. For God alone brings division – the division is a choice to die with Him or to die apart from Him. The difference between the two is the one who dies apart dies for good. The one who dies with Him rises with him. Seek first the Kingdom

Jacob Moorman

Challenge

More recently I felt prompted to challenge the church in its response to this crisis, especially the leaders in the church: 

Our nation is in deep trouble. I fear we are ready to abandon Christ. We are a tattered flag only threads away from being loosed from our foundation, Jesus, the Living God. 

“Unity!” shout church leaders. “Stand together for the greater good.” What good is it to stand apart from Christ? We cannot shout for justice without holding the Word of God in its rightful place—Above all things.

We are living in the most dangerous time this country has ever seen, and potentially the world. The Lord is, and always will be, our only hope. Unity without Christ is folly. Justice without The Righteous Judge is futile. Peace without The Prince of Peace is chaos. Life without Christ is death. 

There is a ripe harvest. People are hurting. There is never a wrong time to preach the Gospel, and there is never a better time to preach the Gospel than now. (Matt. 9:35-38)

Political Stand

But I’ve seen more church leaders take a political stand than one that stands on the Word and proclaims the Gospel. A Gospel that calls out sin. One that calls for repentance. One that glorifies God.

We must not do what men desire us to do. (Gal. 1:10) Our reason, our motive matters. If we are seeking to be honored and applauded by men and women, we ought to fear the Living God and seek repentance. If we are seeking to honor our Heavenly Father, we have no need to fear. (1 Thess. 2:4) (Col. 3:23, 24)

No doubt racism is wicked. No doubt needless death is horrendous. At the same time, the burning of buildings is terrible. And killing more people is wrong. We cannot justify or condone or stand with these heinous acts. Evil cannot be answered by evil. (Romans 12:17) For that we cannot stand silent. We must address the sin behind these matters—any other response will be fruitless!

We are all sinners in desperate need of a Savior. Again, we cannot come together in unity without Jesus Christ at the center.

There is great evil shouting from the rooftops. Anger. Fear. Racism. Hate. Murder. Riots. Looting. There is a greater mind (Satan) behind this pandemic, this murder, this so-called race war, and the many responses thereafter. We must expose the darkness. Bring it to the Light … for everything brought to the Light is no longer darkness but light. (Eph. 5:11-14)

This push for “unity” is indeed demonic. It is one that pushes peace yet incites violence. One that says speak-up yet silences any alternative view. It is a move to push for unity without Christ. A destructive and dangerous plan by the enemy that I fear a lot of church leaders are falling in line with. They are deceived by the call for this false unity and fail to see or expose the evil behind it.

We must call out evil when we see it. We must count the cost of what it means to be a follower of Christ. We must be willing to take up our cross. We must be willing to die for Christ. We must be willing to speak the Gospel even if opposed and unpopular. We must give up all things to receive the one thing that matters … Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Jesus came so that we may have life. (John 10:10) We can be set free from sin! Lust, hate, sexual immorality, violence, anger, bitterness, licentiousness, debauchery, drunkenness—none of these have a place in the Kingdom. (Gal. 5:21) They were nailed to the cross and are dead in the grave for those alive in Christ. (Gal. 5:24)

When we die with Christ, we are dead to sin, wholly. No one who practices such as these will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Praise God He made a way. He is merciful and He is gracious. He is a loving Father. He died my death to give me life. He did the same for you. 

Time is growing short. Judgment will come when the Ancient of Days calls for the trumpets to sound. We will all answer to the one true Judge on that great and terrible and holy and marvelous day. But there is still time to proclaim the Gospel and heed the Good Shepherd’s call. The one who is marked by the blood of the Lamb will stand before him, guiltless. But the one who is marked by any other name, but that of Christ, will be cast out from His presence.

Yet, He is still loving. He is still gracious. He is mighty to save. He is the soon-coming King who is already on the throne. There is still time to proclaim the Gospel and heed the Good Shepherd’s call. God, the Holy One of Israel, came in the flesh and died so that we may walk in purity; that we may walk in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control … that we may walk by the Spirit. (Gal. 5:16, 25)

Now I must ask, if we as His people walk in such things, how can we stand in unity with sin and movements that condone and encourage sin? The only true unity that can come is that of and in the body of Christ. We cannot walk in unity with Christ and sin. We, the Church, cannot walk in unity with the world. We are in the world but not of it. Unity is only found in Christ Jesus our Lord. We should not be hoping for tomorrow on earth, we should be hoping for eternity in heaven. Our hope is in Jesus’ death, resurrection, and His coming again. Praise be to the One. Praise be the great I Am. All honor and glory belong to God the Father, Maker of heaven and earth. He will ever be glorified. May His peace be upon you.

One in Christ

“But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:25-28)

The stuff of a thing must match its purpose. “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11-12) If I set out to bake your child a birthday cake, I wouldn’t use beet mash and kippers. I’d use flour, water, sugar, eggs—the things that make for a blessed moment of contentment in a room full of reveling toddlers. Sweetness for sweet moments, or something like that. So also the Father, in seeking to make the world righteous, did not send us a sinner, but an innocent, to make us what we were not.

Would we expect the church to operate differently?

Fewer people speak of church unity these days (or so it seems to me), but the subject nearly dominated my time at seminary. During my first year at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, 1996-1997, the campus was roiled by the ELCA’s impending full communion agreement with Reformed churches, the “Formula of Agreement.” Professors lectured on it, and students chewed on it over lunch. In time, Bishop William Lazareth of the Metropolitan New York Synod came to debate the subject with the seminary’s president, Dr. David Tiede. Tiede stood for the agreement, and Lazareth against it.  

Each man seemed to take on the flesh of his argument. Tiede, arguing for the careful, academic formulas of a decades-long process, stood straighter and with a more polished, fresh-faced poise than the energetic, nobby-nosed Lazareth, the latter all in clerical black, his eyebrows as thick as his confessional objections. They started with the issues at hand (the Holy Supper, predestination, the lifting of confessional condemnations), but they soon hit on the question of the Church and its unity.

Like any good ecumenist, Tiede invoked the words of Jesus in John 17:21: our Lord Himself prayed for his disciples “that they may all be one.” Why would we not be open to the fulfillment of that prayer among us?  Those words animated Lazareth like no other point in the debate, leading to what would become its most memorable moment for me. Leaping to his feet, his eyebrows arching sharply, Lazareth stuck both of his meaty index fingers in the air and declared, “That they may all be one—that the world may believe!”

Purpose

Belief in the truth of Jesus: here is the purpose of the Church’s unity. Therefore, the stuff of that unity must match its purpose. It must be a unity in and of the truth, even if it means ending fellowship with falsehood.  So Lazareth argued, convincingly for me. Lutherans could not and should not overlook their serious objections to the Reformed teaching of Communion and predestination, thinking that the mere form of unity (the human will to be one, with all of its social achievements) was itself instrumental to the faith God creates. Only the unity comprised of truth could lead others to truth. Only sweetness leads to sweetness; only the Son’s innocence makes us innocent; only a unity conceived by the truth can beget faith in the truth.

This view, formed so clearly by Articles VII and VIII of the Augsburg Confession, continues to have implications not only for those remaining in the ELCA but also for those who have left it. By rooting the unity of the Church in the truth of the Word, it locates the possibility and assurance of unity, not in constitutional arrangement, but in the teaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments. As the Church speaks its proper message and sets forth the Lord’s true Supper and Baptism, it is revealed to be the una sancta, the one, holy catholic and apostolic gathering of believers that midwifes new believers into the world.

And if the unity of the Church resides in its preaching and ministering, then so do its limits. Votes and constitutions have their place, as signposts and jingle bells for keeping every cow in its field. But they provide no lasting or certain refuge, nor do they fulfill the call of Jeremiah: “Go out from the midst of her, my people!” (51:45) In as much as the Church experiences its unity in the doing of the ministry, it is there, too, that it must experience its division from the world and from heresy.

As Lazareth saw in regards to the Formula of Agreement, closed pulpits and closed altars are part of church renewal. The degree to which “closed is closed,” I will not pose in this article. But suffice it to say, renewal seeks faith in the truth. Publicizing false confession in the pulpit or at the altar will not result in that faith, and thus, it will not result in that renewal. I understand that I may stand in the minority on this issue among my own ilk. But I also understand that the mere will to be one (or better, the mere will to be distinct), with all its social achievements will not herald the renewal of the Church.

That renewal takes place in local ministry. Denominational constitutions are the highways that plow across states and regions to move people along in mad efficiency. We need them, but they flatten the landscape in brute fashion. Local ministry is the footpath worn in response to the particular contours of a place, with care for the critters found in every burrow and den. It is there, as the congregation of believers both looses and binds, both admits and restrains, that the Church rises up from the ashes, its wings on fire—yes, it is there that faith is born.

Gateway

Those confessors remaining in the ELCA may therefore wish to pause and question to what extent their denomination’s manifold constitutions remain the gateway to their pulpit and altar—they may wish to review how open is open, and how closed is closed, in their local ministry. To start there, rather than in the baseline acceptance of a brokered political settlement, may prove illuminating and even reforming, if also excruciating. Similar illumination and crosses may await those who have left the ELCA, as they ponder the spiritual demand that faces them daily in Jeremiah’s call, quoted above.  

The Church is a creature of the Spirit of truth. “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13) He knows how sweetness leads to sweetness, and innocence to innocence, and truth to truth. With this Father, if you ask for an egg, you get an egg. As we ask for the Church’s renewal, we ask also for its unity, and to that end, we pray fervently for truth.

About the author: Rev. Dr. Cathi Braasch STS serves as Chaplain to the LMVFM Board of Directors. She is a retired pastor in the NALC and LCMC. She lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  

“We never close.” These three words demonstrate how Lutheran Military Veterans and Families Ministries (LMVFM) fulfills its mission: In ‘normal’ times and times when pandemic illness, economic downturn, and social unrest increase Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) reactions in veterans, military contractors, and their families. These reactions range from heightened anxiety and severe depression to uncontrollable anger and even suicide.

“For LMVFM and the military community, the ongoing epidemic is military suicide brought on by untreated moral and spiritual injury, or PTS,” according to the Rev. Leslie Haines, executive director, and lead chaplain. For several years now, more than 20 US veterans have been committing suicide every day. It’s an epidemic in itself.

Founded in 2007, LMVFM works with individuals and congregations from coast to coast, border to border, by:

• Providing free Christ-centred clinical and pastoral counselling for veterans, military contractors, and their families, along with Bible studies and other small-group opportunities.
• Educating frontline providers with best practices for addressing military service-related PTS, through seminars for pastors, health and human services professionals, congregations, and family members.
• Deploying ‘Paws and Effects’ emotional therapy dogs to apply their unique, unconditional care in the counselling sessions as well as educational and outreach settings.

As Chaplain Haines explains, the need is great for older veterans as well as for younger ones who’ve been serving continually in the Middle East since 1991.

“The current pandemic has only made matters worse,” Haines notes. “Isolation, uncertainty and social upheaval only aggravate the severe depression, heightened anxiety, and uncontrolled anger that are symptoms of PTS. At LMVFM, we’ve seen a steady increase in clients for individual and family counselling since COVID-19 hit our nation.” 

   A few recent examples from the LMVFM mission files (names changed to protect confidentiality):

• James, a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, was doing well until a workplace incident nearly led him to suicide. Counselling is helping James recognize what triggers his PTS and control his responses.
• When COVID-19 precautions caused Veterans Administration facilities to lock down, Rob, a 92-year-old Korean veteran, wasn’t allowed to pick up his hearing aids. We reached out to an LMVFM supporter who serves as a nurse at that VA hospital, and much to the relief of the veteran (and his wife) he had his hearing aids two days later!
• Active duty families like Lieutenant Murphy, Celia and their two young sons, who are based away from an active military base, don’t have the supportive community and services that come with living on base. Murphy’s duty location is more than an hour and a half away from his home, and his duties have increased during the pandemic, leaving Celia and the boys to shelter, alone, too often. Couples’ counselling and support for the family has helped ease the strain and isolation.
• When the pandemic hit, Pete, a Viet Nam combat veteran, and his wife suddenly found themselves with 12 persons under their roof: Their adult children and spouses, and grandchildren including three infants under the age of three months, two of them with special needs. The home’s plumbing broke down, and repair bills went well beyond the household’s budget. With LMVFM’s assistance and our connections to other military support services, Pete’s plumbing issue was resolved, and the bill covered.
• “Meanwhile, we’ve had steady traffic of new and returning counselees – including a 20 percent increase in client caseload during April alone,” Haines recalls. “In addition, we did lots of well-being calls with current and prior counselees, offering support before pandemic-induced stress became too much to bear.”

LMVFM office volunteers, themselves vulnerable due to age and medical status, worked from home during the shutdown. Now that social distancing guidelines have eased, they’re happily back in the office every Tuesday.   

Chaplain Haines brings first-hand experience to her work with the military community. Haines, a Military Police Officer, retired with the rank of Major after serving 33 years in the US Army. Her deployment to a Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility, followed a month later by a combat tour in Iraq, gave her first-hand experience of the spiritual and moral wounds of war. The physical injuries she sustained in Iraq, which required her to be medically evacuated, paled in comparison to the spiritual wounds she sustained.

“In the military, we leave no buddy behind,” Haines recalls. “I was that soldier, close to spiritual death. Had a Chaplain not been there and recognized my condition and worked with me, I wouldn’t be here today. Recognizing that only Christ could heal those bruises on my soul or my buddies’ souls led to the creation of LMVFM and our approach to treating PTS as a spiritual and moral injury rather than a mental health disorder.”

LMVFM is a 501(c)(3) faith-based not-for-profit organization.

“Christ’s Church has a mission to serve, with His love, those who have served us and are suffering for it,” Haines says. “As a matter of principle, LMVFM neither solicits nor accepts any form of government support,” Haines emphasized. “The Lord has continued to provide for LMVFM through the generosity of individual donors, congregations, and groups that love God, country, and veterans.”

                To donate or learn more about how you and your congregation can minister to veterans, military contractors and families, contact Chaplain Haines at 260-755-2239 or e-mail her at lmvfm.org@gmail.com. LMVFM is headquartered at 3480 Stellhorn Rd., Fort Wayne IN 46815.