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Left to right: CH (CPT) Mike Crawford, TSGT Jacob Getzelman, Senator Daryl Beall, MAJ Todd Essign (Battalion XO), CH (COL) John Murdoch, CAP

On 28 September 08 Faith Baptist Church of Fort Dodge, Iowa, held a Military Appreciation Service and welcomed home the Iowa Army National Guard unit and Chaplain, (CAPT) Michael Crawford, who is their pastor. For the past year he and his unit have been in Kosovo as part of the peace keeping mission there. After the service the church hosted a catered dinner for all who attended. Iowa State Senator Daryl Beall was among the dignitaries who attended and spoke. It was a joy to hear the Senator share how a member of Faith Baptist brought him to church there when he was a student and that it was there he placed his faith in the Lord for salvation. Several unit members gave testimony to what God did in their lives through the ministry of Ch Crawford. The Crawford family and unit members are grateful for the prayer and support they received through the year of their deployment.

Commander Tom Webber, CHC, USN is assigned to the 8th District Coast Guard and is stationed in New Orleans, LA. He writes: “Southern LA evacuated during both hurricanes and NOLA (GUSTAV) and Houston and Galveston (IKE) once each. Even though we evacuated our people, they were the first back into the area - even before power. The personal price that many of our fine Americans face is the recovery of their own property, homes, cars, and personal memorabilia lost during the flooding. These USCG patriots drove past their own homes to meet the needs of a community and nation, even leaving their belongings to rot and families elsewhere to answer our nation’s call to duty. They truly are SEMPER PARATUS - Always Ready!”

On 29 September 2008 the United States Air Force Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol, announced that Chaplain Whit Woodard was named the new Chief of the Chaplain Service and has been promoted to the rank of Colonel. Chaplain Woodard is only the second Regular Baptist chaplain to hold this position. He will be leading the CAP’s Chaplain Service, which consists of over 900 personnel nationwide. Please be in prayer for Chaplain Woodard as he begins this new phase of his chaplaincy ministry.

Chaplain (1LT) Mark Worrell graduated from the Army Chaplain School located at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina on Thursday 4 September 2008.  Mark is to report to his first duty assignment at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, on September 11, and has been told he should be planning to deploy with his unit early next year. Please be in prayer for Mark and Shelly as they travel, begin their ministry, and prepare their unit and themselves for a deployment.

Christopher and Amanda Anderson

Chris Anderson has received his commission as a chaplain with the US Army Reserves and has been assigned to a reserve unit in central New York. He has been pastor of the Hunts Corners Baptist Church in Marathon, NY since October of 2005. This past May he graduated from Baptist Bible Seminary (Clarks Summit, PA) with his Master of Divinity degree. Chris and Amanda are the parents of Nathaniel (almost 7), Kate (4 ½), and Robbie (1). We are happy to welcome them to our GARBC chaplaincy family!

On December 5th, 2007, eight people were killed in shootings by a young gunman at the Von Maur clothing store in Omaha, NE. Six others were wounded by his ak47 rifle. As a police chaplain I was called out with about 20 other chaplains to minister to the survivors and their families. I was the only one assigned to University Medical Center, where I visited and prayed with two shooting victims and several of their family and friends in ER and outside emergency surgery. The next day I was on duty and was summoned early to counsel with a suicidal person. It was the mother of the shooter. I praise the Lord our time together went well. Two days later she was on national television telling her story on the Good Morning America program. The Omaha Police Department, in a debriefing afterwards, commended all of the chaplains for their excellent work during the crisis. To the best of my knowledge I am the only fundamental Baptist in the OPD Chaplain Corps at this time, and I was grateful for this opportunity to be a witness for Christ.

Pastor Greg Ubbens
Grace Baptist Church
Omaha, NE

Pastor Ubbens is a volunteer police chaplain in Omaha, NE. He is “on call” one or more times each month for 24 hours and goes to emergency situations, makes death notifications with an officer, and does “ride alongs.” He has also been assigned to the Special Victims Unit and Domestic Violence Unit and helps in those difficult situations.

Cortland, N.Y.—Chaplain Norm Stitzel, a GARBC endorsed lay chaplain and member of Faith Baptist Church of Cortland, New York, received the Meritorious Service Award this year for his service as Commandant and Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps League Detachment #221.

The award reads: “In appreciation and gratitude for meritorious service in the interests of the United States of America, the United States Marine Corps and the Marine Corps League, for the period of May 2004 to Nov. 10, 2007.”

Cortland’s Mayor and Chief of Police were present during the presentation of this award.

Along with this award, the local newspaper, the Cortland Standard ran two large articles with pictures of Norm heading up the local Toys for Tots program. Faith Baptist Church donated DVDs that shared the story of the nativity. These DVDs, including the church’s contact information, went to 118 families. A total of 1053 gifts were given to 351 children.

Students at Calvary Christian Academy, Cresaptown, Md., have gathered in an early morning assembly to remember the events of September 11, 2001 and to pray for our nation. Student leaders prayed for the troops serving our country around the world, for President Bush and members of Congress, for the spiritual needs of our nation, and for God’s protection. During this service the students were challenged by Chaplain John Murdoch, director of chaplaincy ministries for the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. (Pictured above from left to right: Austin Potts, Tiana Thompson, Jessica Hattenfield, Ch, Col John B. Murdoch, CAP, Garrett Humbertson, Dustin Snow. Photo by James Buckalew.)

On July 5, 2007, Indiana State Police Master Trooper Detective David R. Rich was shot and killed in the line of duty. As one of the chaplains for Trooper Rich’s Post, Chaplain John Murdoch was involved in grief counseling and ministry at the Post on July 5 and at the Funeral Home six days later. On July 12 Chaplain Murdoch, assigned to the funeral detail, was one of the chaplains who escorted the casket from the funeral home to the Honeywell Center in Wabash, IN, where the funeral was held. He then escorted the casket from the funeral service to the grave site where the committal service with honors was held.

Corps Vets member Dennis Porter is requesting special prayer for the week of July 29. With the support of his pastor, David Miller, of First Baptist Church in Mishawaka, IN, Dennis has formed “PorterHouse Ministry.” This ministry is focused on teaching Christians how to witness in a non-confrontational way, getting started, explaininng Bible verses and leading to a prayer for salvation. (For more information, you can contact Dennis by e-mail.)

During the week of July 29, Dennis will be attending his military reunion. He is asking all his fellow “Corps Vets” to uphold him in prayer, as he seeks to share Christ with the men and women who will be attending the reunion. Dennis will be sending an update that we will share with you in the next GearBox.

Thank you for upholding Dennis in prayer this month