By Barbara Bedrick (5/24/07)
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. –The closer one gets to the foxhole, the more spiritual human beings, in general, become according to a spiritual warrior who has served on the Iraqi battlefield.As Americans pay tribute this Memorial Day to those troops who have died fighting for their country, military chaplains like Capt. Bill Perdue, U.S. Navy, 1st Marine Division reflect on ministry escalated by warfare.
Perdue, a Baptist General Convention of Texas-endorsed U.S. Navy Corps chaplain, recently returned from a one-year tour of duty in Baghdad and Fallujah as the command chaplain for multi-national force-west. He has found Psalms 91 to be helpful for troops who daily risk their lives in combat.
“We prayed over the wounded and dying,” Perdue wrote in a quarterly newsletter to family, friends and supporters. “We memorialized our dead and we nurtured the living. Chaplains counseled, encouraged and listened to those left behind.”
And, through it all, Perdue wrote, the Lord was with them, and blessed them, even as explosions rocked the ground they stood on.
“On three occasions, rocket and mortar fire landed within 50 yards of our chapel and killed a civilian contractor 30 feet away,” Perdue recalls.
Helping to plant the seeds of faith in lives, Perdue and his ministerial team pray with military convoys before they go out and lead regular Bible studies, support groups and worship services.
Even though danger is never far away, Perdue says “duty, fear of letting other chaplains down and a deep desire for Marines and sailors to have a positive image and role model of faith in the midst of crisis” keeps him motivated.
