#11087 NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
A Magazine for Military Laborers Around the World
PERMIT NO. 10 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
The Navigators U.S. Military Ministry Post Office Box 6000 Colorado Springs, CO 80934
continued from page 3
The Navigators is an international evangelical Christian organization. Jesus Christ gave His followers the Great Commission to go and make disciples. The aim of The Navigators is to help fulfill that commission by multiplying laborers for Christ in every nation. Frontline is a quarterly publication of The Navigators U.S. Military Ministry. U.S. Military Ministry Director: Dave Mead. Editors: Cyndee Larson and Ken Norwood. Writer: Leura Jones. Designer: Steve Learned. Copyright ©2012 by The Navigators, P.O. Box 6000, Colorado Springs, CO 80934. Send submissions, address changes, prayer requests, and questions to U.S. Military Office. Phone: (800) 955-4422.
ISSUE 3
Entering the New by Dave Mead, Colonel, U.S. Army Reserves (Ret); Director, U.S. Military Ministry
Address Service Requested
Fort Drum, New York, he visited 196 different families in 39 states over the course of five months. All were people like David, military men and women in whom he had invested over decades of ministry. “Sharing Christ with the military is my passion,” he says simply. In an era of Facebook, texting, and Skype, making personal visits is still Bill’s preferred method of discipleship. “I don’t let these people go,” he says. “These are my sons and daughters in Christ, and I follow them up. I want to look them in the eye, cry with them, hold their hand if I need to. You can’t do that any other way than eye-to-eye.” David adds, “The amazing thing about Bill is that God uses him in such a vast range of people’s lives—from pastors and officers to privates or ex-soldiers who are in jail. He has a way of meeting people where they are in life and helping them grow closer to Christ.” “I learned from The Navigators back in the 1960s, and I kept doing what they taught me,” Bill says. Though he did not have a Navigator staff connection until 2009, he says that being invited to join our work was the fulfillment of a dream, 45 years in the making. Bill Meyers ministered as director of Shalom House, a Christian servicemen’s center near Camp Casey, Korea, and was appointed a Navigator Mission Staff in 2009. He has been serving at Fort Drum, New York, since his return from Korea in 2010.
A Magazine for Military Laborers Around the World
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. –Joshua 1:9
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Read this issue of Frontline online at:
www.navigators.org/frontline
I sense we are entering a new season and will experience Christ and His calling in new and marvelous ways. I spent most of January in the book of Mark. For the first time, I saw Jesus entering the new . . . and He did it often. Simply defined, the new is something that hasn’t been done before. Jesus more than modeled the new, He IS the new. Although He was God, He took on our human form—never been done before. In Revelation 21:5, He says, “I am making everything new!” In Mark, “amazed” is used 10 times; “astonished,” 5 times; “afraid,” 9 times; and “terrified,” twice. When we see one of these reactions, most of the time it’s because Jesus entered the new. He did something that was never done before, and His disciples, followers, and others reacted by being amazed or frightened. The first incidence is in Mark 1:27 after Jesus drives out an evil spirit, “the people were all so amazed that they asked each other, ‘what is this? A new teaching—and with authority.’” Never been done before. The last is in Mark 16:5-8 concerning Jesus’ resurrection. Never been done before! As He walked on this earth, Jesus was doing new things and people were awe-inspired, disturbed, or frightened. Jesus continues to work in the realm of the new. And He still evokes reactions. He changes, rearranges, and transforms. Now He is asking us to enter the new with Him. Don’t be surprised if He asks us to do something we’ve never done before. I wonder sometimes if we ask for too little and pray too small. What’s keeping us from going “all in” with Jesus? The Greek word for “afraid” is “phobeo,” the source for our word “phobia.” It means to fear or be terrified. Is God asking you to enter the new? Is it something that you’re scared or afraid to do? Maybe it’s something you’ve never done before.
Maybe it’s sharing the good news of the Gospel with a friend. It could be inviting others to a Bible study or even leading one. Maybe it’s interacting on a deep level with broken, messy people, realizing it may cause you to reveal your own brokenness. When thinking about entering the Dave Mead new, I’m reminded of God’s great deployment—the Israelites entering into the Promised Land. After an unsuccessful try forty years earlier, due to fear and disbelief, God tells His people to be strong and courageous three times in the first chapter of Joshua, one being in verse 9 – “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” The great thing about entering the new—God is with us! All He asks of us is to be strong and courageous. If you want to enter into the new, it will start with prayer. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3). In God’s provision, He welcomes the never been done before in order to increase our faith, extend our courage, and transform our definition of living in the new. Prayer is foundational to equip and encourage our walk into this new reality. We serve a loving, compassionate God who empowers us. So let’s enter into the new. Trust Jesus to be the new in and through you, and great and marvelous things will happen! Dave and Melo Mead have lived in Colorado Springs since 2009. A little known fact is Dave was the president of the Amy Grant Fan Club as a West Point cadet and had a life-size stand up display of Amy.
Resource Spotlight Advancing the Gospel—$5.00 Take the gospel into your community just like Paul did: by sharing the good news. Written by Mike Treneer, international president of The Navigators, this study of the book of Colossians will challenge you to consider the apostle Paul’s method of advancing the gospel: through laborers spreading the message. Practical in nature and heartfelt in its presentation, this book will equip you and your small group to move Christ’s message forward in your local area of ministry. Solo Duo—$20.00 Solo Duo is the ministry resource you need to strengthen Military couples’ spiritual foundation. Designed uniquely for Military couples in “His and Hers,” this innovative devotional New Testament connects a couple’s spiritual lifelines to one another. Through daily readings, reflections, questions, and meditations, their marriage and spiritual growth can continue in a deeper, more intimate way, even if the miles separate them during deployment. Solo Duo is a guidebook in the midst of a stressful and unique season—a compass pointing a couple together toward God. Despite separated by distance, their hearts are still one as they start each day with each other in God’s Word. In the midst of their journey, God’s Word and teaching bind their hearts together for His future plan and purpose. For more information, please go to www.militarynavs.org/soloduo Order from NavPress at www. navpress.com or (800) 366-7788.
Impact Through Commitment by Leura Jones
Granny Nancy and her “adopted” son, Scott
“Grannies” on the Frontlines by Leura Jones A Fort Carson, Colorado, Army chaplain has come up with a unique outreach to soldiers transitioning from war to everyday life. G.I. Grannies for Soldier Support (GIGSS) mobilizes older women, most of them grandmothers, to adopt military men and women and their families and serve them in a variety of ways. With three levels of participation, volunteer “grannies” do everything from baking birthday cakes and family meals to writing letters of encouragement, to spending hours of time listening and being a friend. A few have actually even deployed with an overseas battalion where they partner with the chaplain and essentially become missionaries to the military for a short time. “There’s something for everyone,” Chaplain Dell Harlow-Curtis says. “Even grandmothers who can’t leave their homes can send letters or make phone calls.” One woman lined up a free make-over for a soldier’s wife, while another helped track down a used washer and dryer for a family transitioning out of the military. Volunteers are trained through a boot-camp style program in which they learn all the ins and outs of military life, from saluting and marching to how to identify rank and address an officer. They also receive instruction on how to relate to the transitioning soldiers, many of whom bear the physical or emotional
scars of war. In addition, they receive a uniform with a special sash that bears the name of their adopted soldier. Chaplain Harlow-Curtis, of Fort Carson’s Warrior Transition Battalion, introduced his G.I. Grannies program at a Glen Eyrie tea in October 2011, which was sponsored by The Navigators Military Ministry. One woman who signed up as a result of that meeting was instrumental in coming to the aid of a soldier who was considering suicide. In the eight months since its launch, 38 women have become part of the program, just 12 shy of the chaplain’s original goal. “Desire is what makes this work,” he says, “not a desire to bring religion or change somebody’s life, but a simple desire to show appreciation and give back to someone who has served our country.” As for the unique name, the chaplain says he chose “grannies” because it attracts the right kind of volunteer. “We need strong women of faith who aren’t easily offended,” he explains. “The word ‘granny’ won’t scare those women off.” Volunteers don’t have to be grandmas, he adds, and men are also welcome to serve transitioning soldiers as mentors. “Our soldiers need everyone,” he says. For more information, contact the chaplain at dell.harlowcurtis@us.army.mil or www.gigss.webs.com.
Every week for eleven months, Bill Meyers met one-to-one with David Frankel, an Army chaplain’s assistant at Camp Casey, Korea. But it was the yearly visits that would come later that would change the direction of David’s life. While Bill continued on as the director of a servicemen’s center in Korea, David returned to the States, was deployed to Iraq, and eventually left the Army and settled in Oregon where he married a chaplain’s daughter and had two sons. Bill and David continued to talk on the phone now and then, but one particular call got Bill’s attention in a new way. “Bill, I really blew it,” David admitted. As soon as he got some vacation time, Bill headed back to the States to reconnect with his hurting friend. David had gotten involved with an underage woman and was reported. His wife divorced him and left him alone with his two young sons. As part of his plea bargain, he was not able to leave Oregon and was restricted from any public place where children might be. This meant that David couldn’t take his sons to a park or even to school. Church was also not an option.
to spend a few days with David before moving on to visit his two grown sons and other friends across the country. But his trips always began in Oregon. “The first year I stopped by, David was in a tight situation,” Bill recalls. “He’d lost contact with all his friends and family except for his parents. We talked about people from the Bible, how they blew it sometimes, too, but it didn’t mean God was done with them. I had to share this message three years running, every time I visited David.” It wasn’t Bill’s words that spoke loudest to David. It was his commitment to stay involved in David’s life, to visit him face-to-face every year, no matter what it cost him. David says, “When I was struggling, most Christians ran away. Bill would come see me and pour Christ’s love into me, visiting for hours and then encouraging me to return to church, or read my Bible or just pray five minutes a day.” In between visits, the two talked by phone and e-mail. By Bill’s third yearly visit, he saw progress in David’s life. He had a prayer life and was being a better father to his sons. By Bill’s fourth visit, David was
Bill Meyers and Shalom House ministry friends in Korea Bill, who was discipled by The Navigators in the mid-1960s as a young airman, had spent four decades investing in military men and women and was no stranger to walking with his friends through the consequences of their poor choices. Bill decided that each time he made his annual visit to the States, he would land in Portland. He’d rent a car and drive the five hours to Grants Pass
able to attend church and was dating a Christian woman. Bill later counseled them about getting married and raising their blended family together. Today, David and his wife have a strong marriage and family. He is thriving in his career as a car salesman and became one of Bill’s biggest financial supporters when he joined Navigator staff in 2009. Before Bill settled into his new role at continued on back page
It wasn’t Bill’s words that spoke loudest to David. It was his commitment to stay involved in David’s life, to visit him face-to-face every year, no matter what it cost him.
Equipping Laborers for Only $10 The U.S. Military Ministry knows that providing quality resources to our laborers, staff, and chaplains is an important part of reaching those we are called to serve. Besides a commitment of time, one-to-one discipleship also can require a selection of quality resource materials— Bibles, books, or magazines—that make such a big impact on one’s spiritual journey. Your text gift of $10 To: will help us reach 41010 a goal of $40,000 Text: to provide those M IL serving on the front lines of spiritual formation with all the tools they need to make an eternal difference. Text MIL to 41010 to make a $10 contribution to the Military Ministry. Thank you for helping support our work with such a simple but powerful gift!
Resource Spotlight Advancing the Gospel—$5.00 Take the gospel into your community just like Paul did: by sharing the good news. Written by Mike Treneer, international president of The Navigators, this study of the book of Colossians will challenge you to consider the apostle Paul’s method of advancing the gospel: through laborers spreading the message. Practical in nature and heartfelt in its presentation, this book will equip you and your small group to move Christ’s message forward in your local area of ministry. Solo Duo—$20.00 Solo Duo is the ministry resource you need to strengthen Military couples’ spiritual foundation. Designed uniquely for Military couples in “His and Hers,” this innovative devotional New Testament connects a couple’s spiritual lifelines to one another. Through daily readings, reflections, questions, and meditations, their marriage and spiritual growth can continue in a deeper, more intimate way, even if the miles separate them during deployment. Solo Duo is a guidebook in the midst of a stressful and unique season—a compass pointing a couple together toward God. Despite separated by distance, their hearts are still one as they start each day with each other in God’s Word. In the midst of their journey, God’s Word and teaching bind their hearts together for His future plan and purpose. For more information, please go to www.militarynavs.org/soloduo Order from NavPress at www. navpress.com or (800) 366-7788.
Impact Through Commitment by Leura Jones
Granny Nancy and her “adopted” son, Scott
“Grannies” on the Frontlines by Leura Jones A Fort Carson, Colorado, Army chaplain has come up with a unique outreach to soldiers transitioning from war to everyday life. G.I. Grannies for Soldier Support (GIGSS) mobilizes older women, most of them grandmothers, to adopt military men and women and their families and serve them in a variety of ways. With three levels of participation, volunteer “grannies” do everything from baking birthday cakes and family meals to writing letters of encouragement, to spending hours of time listening and being a friend. A few have actually even deployed with an overseas battalion where they partner with the chaplain and essentially become missionaries to the military for a short time. “There’s something for everyone,” Chaplain Dell Harlow-Curtis says. “Even grandmothers who can’t leave their homes can send letters or make phone calls.” One woman lined up a free make-over for a soldier’s wife, while another helped track down a used washer and dryer for a family transitioning out of the military. Volunteers are trained through a boot-camp style program in which they learn all the ins and outs of military life, from saluting and marching to how to identify rank and address an officer. They also receive instruction on how to relate to the transitioning soldiers, many of whom bear the physical or emotional
scars of war. In addition, they receive a uniform with a special sash that bears the name of their adopted soldier. Chaplain Harlow-Curtis, of Fort Carson’s Warrior Transition Battalion, introduced his G.I. Grannies program at a Glen Eyrie tea in October 2011, which was sponsored by The Navigators Military Ministry. One woman who signed up as a result of that meeting was instrumental in coming to the aid of a soldier who was considering suicide. In the eight months since its launch, 38 women have become part of the program, just 12 shy of the chaplain’s original goal. “Desire is what makes this work,” he says, “not a desire to bring religion or change somebody’s life, but a simple desire to show appreciation and give back to someone who has served our country.” As for the unique name, the chaplain says he chose “grannies” because it attracts the right kind of volunteer. “We need strong women of faith who aren’t easily offended,” he explains. “The word ‘granny’ won’t scare those women off.” Volunteers don’t have to be grandmas, he adds, and men are also welcome to serve transitioning soldiers as mentors. “Our soldiers need everyone,” he says. For more information, contact the chaplain at dell.harlowcurtis@us.army.mil or www.gigss.webs.com.
Every week for eleven months, Bill Meyers met one-to-one with David Frankel, an Army chaplain’s assistant at Camp Casey, Korea. But it was the yearly visits that would come later that would change the direction of David’s life. While Bill continued on as the director of a servicemen’s center in Korea, David returned to the States, was deployed to Iraq, and eventually left the Army and settled in Oregon where he married a chaplain’s daughter and had two sons. Bill and David continued to talk on the phone now and then, but one particular call got Bill’s attention in a new way. “Bill, I really blew it,” David admitted. As soon as he got some vacation time, Bill headed back to the States to reconnect with his hurting friend. David had gotten involved with an underage woman and was reported. His wife divorced him and left him alone with his two young sons. As part of his plea bargain, he was not able to leave Oregon and was restricted from any public place where children might be. This meant that David couldn’t take his sons to a park or even to school. Church was also not an option.
to spend a few days with David before moving on to visit his two grown sons and other friends across the country. But his trips always began in Oregon. “The first year I stopped by, David was in a tight situation,” Bill recalls. “He’d lost contact with all his friends and family except for his parents. We talked about people from the Bible, how they blew it sometimes, too, but it didn’t mean God was done with them. I had to share this message three years running, every time I visited David.” It wasn’t Bill’s words that spoke loudest to David. It was his commitment to stay involved in David’s life, to visit him face-to-face every year, no matter what it cost him. David says, “When I was struggling, most Christians ran away. Bill would come see me and pour Christ’s love into me, visiting for hours and then encouraging me to return to church, or read my Bible or just pray five minutes a day.” In between visits, the two talked by phone and e-mail. By Bill’s third yearly visit, he saw progress in David’s life. He had a prayer life and was being a better father to his sons. By Bill’s fourth visit, David was
Bill Meyers and Shalom House ministry friends in Korea Bill, who was discipled by The Navigators in the mid-1960s as a young airman, had spent four decades investing in military men and women and was no stranger to walking with his friends through the consequences of their poor choices. Bill decided that each time he made his annual visit to the States, he would land in Portland. He’d rent a car and drive the five hours to Grants Pass
able to attend church and was dating a Christian woman. Bill later counseled them about getting married and raising their blended family together. Today, David and his wife have a strong marriage and family. He is thriving in his career as a car salesman and became one of Bill’s biggest financial supporters when he joined Navigator staff in 2009. Before Bill settled into his new role at continued on back page
It wasn’t Bill’s words that spoke loudest to David. It was his commitment to stay involved in David’s life, to visit him face-to-face every year, no matter what it cost him.
Equipping Laborers for Only $10 The U.S. Military Ministry knows that providing quality resources to our laborers, staff, and chaplains is an important part of reaching those we are called to serve. Besides a commitment of time, one-to-one discipleship also can require a selection of quality resource materials— Bibles, books, or magazines—that make such a big impact on one’s spiritual journey. Your text gift of $10 To: will help us reach 41010 a goal of $40,000 Text: to provide those M IL serving on the front lines of spiritual formation with all the tools they need to make an eternal difference. Text MIL to 41010 to make a $10 contribution to the Military Ministry. Thank you for helping support our work with such a simple but powerful gift!
#11087 NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
A Magazine for Military Laborers Around the World
PERMIT NO. 10 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
The Navigators U.S. Military Ministry Post Office Box 6000 Colorado Springs, CO 80934
continued from page 3
The Navigators is an international evangelical Christian organization. Jesus Christ gave His followers the Great Commission to go and make disciples. The aim of The Navigators is to help fulfill that commission by multiplying laborers for Christ in every nation. Frontline is a quarterly publication of The Navigators U.S. Military Ministry. U.S. Military Ministry Director: Dave Mead. Editors: Cyndee Larson and Ken Norwood. Writer: Leura Jones. Designer: Steve Learned. Copyright ©2012 by The Navigators, P.O. Box 6000, Colorado Springs, CO 80934. Send submissions, address changes, prayer requests, and questions to U.S. Military Office. Phone: (800) 955-4422.
ISSUE 3
Entering the New by Dave Mead, Colonel, U.S. Army Reserves (Ret); Director, U.S. Military Ministry
Address Service Requested
Fort Drum, New York, he visited 196 different families in 39 states over the course of five months. All were people like David, military men and women in whom he had invested over decades of ministry. “Sharing Christ with the military is my passion,” he says simply. In an era of Facebook, texting, and Skype, making personal visits is still Bill’s preferred method of discipleship. “I don’t let these people go,” he says. “These are my sons and daughters in Christ, and I follow them up. I want to look them in the eye, cry with them, hold their hand if I need to. You can’t do that any other way than eye-to-eye.” David adds, “The amazing thing about Bill is that God uses him in such a vast range of people’s lives—from pastors and officers to privates or ex-soldiers who are in jail. He has a way of meeting people where they are in life and helping them grow closer to Christ.” “I learned from The Navigators back in the 1960s, and I kept doing what they taught me,” Bill says. Though he did not have a Navigator staff connection until 2009, he says that being invited to join our work was the fulfillment of a dream, 45 years in the making. Bill Meyers ministered as director of Shalom House, a Christian servicemen’s center near Camp Casey, Korea, and was appointed a Navigator Mission Staff in 2009. He has been serving at Fort Drum, New York, since his return from Korea in 2010.
A Magazine for Military Laborers Around the World
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. –Joshua 1:9
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Read this issue of Frontline online at:
www.navigators.org/frontline
I sense we are entering a new season and will experience Christ and His calling in new and marvelous ways. I spent most of January in the book of Mark. For the first time, I saw Jesus entering the new . . . and He did it often. Simply defined, the new is something that hasn’t been done before. Jesus more than modeled the new, He IS the new. Although He was God, He took on our human form—never been done before. In Revelation 21:5, He says, “I am making everything new!” In Mark, “amazed” is used 10 times; “astonished,” 5 times; “afraid,” 9 times; and “terrified,” twice. When we see one of these reactions, most of the time it’s because Jesus entered the new. He did something that was never done before, and His disciples, followers, and others reacted by being amazed or frightened. The first incidence is in Mark 1:27 after Jesus drives out an evil spirit, “the people were all so amazed that they asked each other, ‘what is this? A new teaching—and with authority.’” Never been done before. The last is in Mark 16:5-8 concerning Jesus’ resurrection. Never been done before! As He walked on this earth, Jesus was doing new things and people were awe-inspired, disturbed, or frightened. Jesus continues to work in the realm of the new. And He still evokes reactions. He changes, rearranges, and transforms. Now He is asking us to enter the new with Him. Don’t be surprised if He asks us to do something we’ve never done before. I wonder sometimes if we ask for too little and pray too small. What’s keeping us from going “all in” with Jesus? The Greek word for “afraid” is “phobeo,” the source for our word “phobia.” It means to fear or be terrified. Is God asking you to enter the new? Is it something that you’re scared or afraid to do? Maybe it’s something you’ve never done before.
Maybe it’s sharing the good news of the Gospel with a friend. It could be inviting others to a Bible study or even leading one. Maybe it’s interacting on a deep level with broken, messy people, realizing it may cause you to reveal your own brokenness. When thinking about entering the Dave Mead new, I’m reminded of God’s great deployment—the Israelites entering into the Promised Land. After an unsuccessful try forty years earlier, due to fear and disbelief, God tells His people to be strong and courageous three times in the first chapter of Joshua, one being in verse 9 – “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” The great thing about entering the new—God is with us! All He asks of us is to be strong and courageous. If you want to enter into the new, it will start with prayer. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3). In God’s provision, He welcomes the never been done before in order to increase our faith, extend our courage, and transform our definition of living in the new. Prayer is foundational to equip and encourage our walk into this new reality. We serve a loving, compassionate God who empowers us. So let’s enter into the new. Trust Jesus to be the new in and through you, and great and marvelous things will happen! Dave and Melo Mead have lived in Colorado Springs since 2009. A little known fact is Dave was the president of the Amy Grant Fan Club as a West Point cadet and had a life-size stand up display of Amy.