A Ministry of Presence
by Ric Rivers, MDiv, 2010
A ministry of presence. That sums up my first two years as a Chaplain in the Army. Since graduating from Asbury in 2010, the Lord has taken my wife and I on an incredible journey. We have moved across the country to the beautiful state of Washington where I serve with the 8-1 CAV out of Joint Base Lewis McChord. I serve in an extremely diverse, pluralistic military that discourages any type of evangelical agenda, especially from a Chaplain.
Even though I wear a Christian cross, I have to be careful to not offend an individual’s religious view with my own. Therein lays the challenge. How can I, as a Chaplain, be true to God’s calling in my life?
I can remember taking Dr. Tuttle’s History of Evangelism class where I was first introduced to Saint Francis of Assisi. I learned that St. Francis instructed his missionary students to go out to all the world and preach the gospel, and only when necessary, use words. That idea has stayed with me to this day. In the time with my Squadron I have tried to live this out. In every way I try my hardest to do everything my Soldiers are asked to do. This has included rotations to the National Training Center in California where we lived out of tents for weeks, to the spur ride where we rolled around in the mud for three days to earn our spurs (it’s a CAV thing). To me, that is what it means to be a ministry of presence.
This all came to a head during this past year, when the Squadron deployed to Afghanistan. I had 1300 Soldiers scattered across Kandahar City in twelve different locations. As their Chaplain, my job was to get out to them and offer a religious service. In the seven months there, my assistant and I traveled on 117 convoys and led over 70 worship services. The time I spent ministering overseas was nothing short of incredible. God poured out his grace and mercy like nothing I have ever seen before. Soldiers were coming to Christ, we had great turnouts for service and we were doing great works in the name of the Lord. However, with the good came the bad. In the last month I was there, while traveling from one location to the next, the vehicle I was riding in hit a 200LB IED (improvised explosive device). It hit us hard. The 16 ton Stryker I was in was completely destroyed. One of our soldiers lost a leg while others (including myself) were injured. However, God was with us that day and saw to our safety. After being medically evacuated to the local hospital I was sent home to heal.
It was during this time that I began the healing process. I am not going to lie to you and say that it has been easy, because it hasn’t. Besides the injuries I sustained, I have had to deal not only with PTSD, but also spiritual questions. I couldn’t understand why this had happened to me. We were in a foreign country bringing the good news to so many. Lives were being changed and good works were being accomplished. In the blink of an eye, I was back home sitting on my couch healing while my Soldiers were still in harm’s way. Due to my own stubbornness, it took me some time before I finally did what I needed to do all along, go to the Lord for reassurance.
In my quiet time the Lord led me to Colossians where I began a study on what Paul referred to as suffering for the sake of Christ. I began to gain a greater appreciation for what Paul said about rejoicing in his sufferings while making the word of God known. I may have been injured in combat, and yes, I was injured while serving my country. But nothing can take away the joy of knowing I was injured for bringing the Gospel of Christ to my Soldiers. Even though the road to recovery has been slow, given the opportunity to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat. To me, this is ministry of presence. That is what it means to be a Chaplain in the Army.
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Thank you for serving. My son is also an Army National Guard Chaplain and served recently in Afghanistan. Praying for you. Thank you for being God’s messenger so others can know Him!
Thank you for your service Chap – I will never forget the kind and gracious words of comfort and all your prayers at the memorial service for my husband Tom. Be blessed.
Thanks for all you did while my son was deployed with your group. I loved getting your reports ad the pictures that were shared. May God continue to bless you!
This is a most useful contoibutirn to the debate
As a retired minister I can identify with your passion for representing Christ and I am personally grateful for the light of God’s love that shined through you. I pray for your continued healing both physically and emotionally. You are a credit to your uniform!
HOOAH, Chaplain!
I’m proud of you & what you are doing! May God bless you & use you mightily!!