Help Our Military Chaplains Fight the Spiritual Battle
4 Min Read
Thank you to everyone who donated to support Ligonier's military chaplain outreach program. Those gifts were immediately put to use as we recently mailed the first of two resource packages to the chaplains. We are also thankful to report that due to the generous hearts of many, we exceeded our goal. This means we will be able to provide more resources to more chaplains like Jonathan Craig and Steven Head this year.
Rev. James R. Carter, who served in the military for 23 years on active duty, shares how with your support we are helping our military chaplains fight the spiritual battle.
"For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds."
—2 Corinthians 10:4
We're accustomed to turning on the TV or visiting our favorite news website and hearing of the latest casualties incurred in battle between the U.S. armed forces and various opponents. In light of such reports, it's easy to focus on the physical battles that our soldiers must fight. Yet there is an even more important battle that our troops are engaged in—the spiritual battle for their hearts and minds.
U.S. military chaplains labor hard to bring the gospel to bear on the lives of the soldiers with whom they are stationed. On the battlefields of the Middle East, in the chapels on U.S. military bases, on board ships and submarines, and elsewhere, our chaplains work to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and to minister to troops in desperate need of Gods Word. Yet many of them work with few resources and lack discipleship materials and other resources to train up sailors, airmen, soldiers, and Marines in the truths of Scripture.
Your Help Is Vital
You can help Ligonier Ministries come alongside these chaplains and provide the resources needed to counsel and instruct our nation's service members. Through your support, in 2015, Ligonier plans to mail resource packages to over 200 chaplains around the world. These resource packages contain books, teaching series, and other teaching tools by Dr. Sproul, our Ligonier teaching fellows, and other trusted teachers of God's Word, including the newly revised Reformation Study Bible. You can be a key part of this resource distribution and reach soldiers for the gospel all around the world.
Last year, friends like you contributed in excess of our funding goal for this special program, enabling us to distribute many more resources than we had planned. It will cost $20,000 to fully fund our chaplain program this year, and your gift can help us meet this level of support so that we can continue equipping our chaplains with tools they need. Will you help us minister to our troops?
Testimonials
"I regularly stock our literature racks with the Crucial Questions booklets and they are hard to keep on the shelves. Military and civilian personnel are eagerly snatching them up to gain a deeper appreciation for the truth of God's Word. Our military personnel value professionalism and hard work and the quality of these booklets appeal to them. Thank you, Ligonier, for your generosity and faithfulness to the Scriptures!"
—CHAPLAIN JONATHAN M. CRAIG
"I would like to say a big thank you to Ligonier. During my time as a chaplain there were a lot of free resources offered to chaplains but not many that were of good quality and doctrinally sound. I found you to be my best partner in getting sound resources to soldiers. Again, thank you."
—CHAPLAIN STEVEN D. HEAD
"Ligonier has been a terrific support for me as a Navy chaplain and for my sailors! For example, Ligonier provided me with 10 copies of Essential Truths of the Christian Faith for use in my ministry. I have given a copy to every lay leader on my boats to use for personal growth. Additionally, several of these lay leaders are using this text as a basis for Bible studies they are leading on the boats or for ideas and support in preparing Sunday morning messages for their sailors. Also, I am leading a Tuesday Bible study at lunch time going through this text. Additionally, it is a tremendous blessing to have handy resources from Ligonier like the Crucial Questions booklets. When sailors come to me with questions I know these booklets will be a theologically sound and informative booklet to give to them for deeper reflection. I am confident these materials are helping sailors grow in their faith and being used by our Glorious God to fulfill His amazing purposes! Thank you Ligonier for being there for me and my sailors!"
—CHAPLAIN BUSTER WILLIAMS
