First Presbyterian Church Schenectady, New York

By Anne Elliot

Being in the military has consistently helped my walk with the Lord. No, I was never an active duty military member, but I was a military “dependent” for most of 40 years. As a child, my father was a navy chaplain. At the age of 22 I walked down the aisle to join lives with a handsome army captain and spent the next 18 years of my life as a military wife.

As you can image the designation of “dependent” has fallen out of favor, but I have always liked that term. It reminds me of how I need to live – dependent on the Lord. Now, I wasn’t always focused on being dependent on the Lord, but my great God and King never failed to remember that I am dust and my very next breath is dependent on Him.

As a child as well as an adult, the Lord was there in the mundane and the momentous. He was faithful, providing the next church and the next house wherever we went. His trustworthiness was demonstrated and He consistently gave grace for that which I perceived insurmountable, such as; showering with my young children for two years since no bathtub was available! The Lord supplied strength and wisdom during the uninterrupted string of months where I was a single parent and home schooling mom. My great God has even protected my poor children from an overdose of mother! The Lord was my personal escort through the challenges of living in a country where we were the only Americans in a 400 mile radius and I didn’t speak the language, and yes, it did call to mind the wanderings of Israel. With Moses I can say, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land!” (Exodus 2:22)

When my husband went to the first Gulf War, I found I needed to depend on the Lord. Actually it was more of a clinging to Him! He became my husband and the father to my “fatherless” children. During that time I was in bed for three months due to a problem pregnancy. My God supplied all my needs through my brothers and sisters in Christ and my dear parents.

When I had to be in a hospital 80 miles from my home and family, alone, save for the presence of my strong Father, I prayed to the Lord, and in response I heard Moses in my mind again. “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today. . .” (Exodus 14:13) Not only did the Lord push the anesthesiologist

through the swinging doors of surgery before the surgeon’s knife made the cut for that

emergency C-section, but the Lord also laid His hand on Bob in a miraculous way in Iraq - and he arrived, sand in his combat boots, to take me home from the hospital where our new, premature son stayed and lived out his short 6 months of life. During those months I often heard my faithful Father in the words of Isaiah, “Rejoice and be glad forever in what I have created.”

Please don’t think being in the military is all trouble and singleness-though-married. It brims with unusual opportunities and excitement. Take my 6 bathroom house with a beautiful pool surrounded by avocado and papaya trees, AND a maid on top of all that. Even in the wonder of God’s provision I could hear the Lord speaking through Moses, “Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land . . . to give you great and splendid cities which you did not build and houses full of good things which you did not fill and hewn cisterns which you did not dig (that is sort of like a pool, right?) vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant and you shall eat and be satisfied, then WATCH YOURSELF, LEST YOU FORGET THE LORD WHO BROUGHT YOU FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT AND OUT OF THE HOUSE OF SLAVERY. “. (Deut. 6:10-12) In the rich times as well as the tough times, the challenge remained the same; remembering upon whom I depended.

by Michael Cannon

A PCA minister serving as an Army Chaplain

Pastor Cannon takes the reader through a forensic analysis of the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and America’s reaction to it. He gives us an opportunity to explore our own soul through the drama of the 800^{th MP Brigade that played so prominently in the news throughout Operation Iraqi Freedom. He draws from investigative reports and his experience as the Brigade chaplain to explain the character of the 800th MP Brigade, the media coverage, the interpersonal conflicts, the ethical conflicts and the leadership crisis. All is presented to the reader on a literary examination table. Like exhibits presented in a trial, the reader can weigh each dimension of the tragedy at Abu Ghraib and develop a more empathetic and holistic understanding of what happened and why by placing it in the context of war. The thesis of this book recasts the image of the 800th MP Brigade from a national tragedy to a prophetic symbol of America’s moral crisis. Challenge your worldviews and take a look into Abu Ghraib through a pastor’s eyes.}