We've been assigned a battalion in the US Army!

The following is from a letter received recently in the mail.

Dale Hamilton, one of your congregation members, yesterday gave me your name and address. I am thrilled and grateful you are excited to support 1-63CAB through prayer and other forms of spiritual support.

This is so important for many of our soldiers and their families. As Dale has filled you in, we're lining up the entire brigade to leave for Iraq before Halloween. We have many soldiers [for whom] this will be their first deployment. Others who have done this before just want to get it over with and rejoin their families.

So there is a lot of stress on families and marriages - more than what we're juse to seeing in this office. Recently I led and taught a marriage retreat for our senior leaders. It went over very well. Part of it, a big part, was people praying for this specific event.

God is pleased to act in the midst of discouragement and fear to bring life and hope - even when He is not "in the headlines", such as the book of Esther. The leaders and their wives came back telling everyone to go to the next one. The marriage retreat, open to the whole battalion of marrieds, is the first weekend of September and it is already half full! But that is one thing going on here that I see God working through.

Another item for prayer is our battalion commander, LTC Jim Bradford. He is in Iraq scouting out the land we are expecting to occupy. Needless to say it is very hot and jet lag is doing him no favors. He's a good leader and an all-round great man to be around. He made a tip priority for me to gather prayer support for this battalion - and that says something about his nature and faith. So please keep him in mind and in your prayers.

Thank you.

Captain David Chapman
Chaplain, USA
1/63 CAB Dragons