wfn.org | First copies of revised devotional reach troops

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

April 14, 2003 News media contact: Kathy Gilbert7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.	10-71BP{223}

NOTE: A photograph of Evan Hunsberger is available.

By J. Richard Peck*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - United Methodists may hold different opinions about
the war with Iraq, but they are united in offering prayers and expressing
concern for men and women risking their lives there.

The Commission on United Methodist Men is engaged in a national effort to
provide all U.S. service men and women with an updated book of daily
devotions - a book first sent to U.S. troops in World War II and again during
the Korean conflict.

To date, some 25,000 copies of the book Strength for Service to God and
Country have been sent to troops stationed in Afghanistan and neighboring
nations. The most recent shipment of the 400-page book was sent to the 101st
Airborne, based at Fort Campbell, Ky.

The same book was carried 60 years earlier by Eugene Hunsberger during World
War II.  Hunsberger was given the book while serving in the Navy, and he
continued to read from it for the rest of his life.

Three years ago, Hunsberger's 16-year-old grandson, Evan, asked his
grandfather about the book and why it was so meaningful to him. Listening to
his grandfather tell how the book had helped him through difficult
experiences, the younger Hunsberger had an inspiration.

Evan needed to complete a special project in order to earn the rank of Eagle,
the highest level in Boy Scouts. He asked his grandfather if republishing the
book as a spiritual aid for U.S. service personnel today would be a good
Eagle Scout project. "Not good," whispered Eugene, whose stroke had made
speech difficult. "Great!" 

After receiving permission from the United Methodist Publishing House to
republish the book, Evan and 45 volunteers spent 2,500 hours scanning and
correcting copy from the book into computers.

The Commission on United Methodist Men, the agency responsible for scouting
ministries in the denomination, supported the idea of sending the book to
U.S. service personnel. With the Pentagon's approval, the Nashville-based
agency began trying to raise $3 million in order to give a copy of the book
to 1 million members of the military.

While the first edition of the book contained devotions written by hundreds
of well-known religious and industrial leaders during the World War II era,
the new edition includes writings by Robert Schuller, pastor of the Crystal
Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif.; Gerald Turner, president of Southern
Methodist University, Dallas; Andrew Benton, president of Pepperdine
University, Malibu, Calif.; Joseph Bottoms, president of DePauw University,
Greencastle, Ind.; Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles; Rudy
Ruetiger, former Notre Dame football player portrayed in the movie "Rudy";
Hassan Hathout, executive of the Islamic Center of Southern California, Los
Angeles; and Kenneth Kanter, rabbi of Congregation Micah, Brentwood, Tenn.

People who want to support the effort can send checks to Strength for
Service, P.O. Box 340006, Nashville, TN 37203-0006. To order copies of the
book, contact Providence Publishing Corp., 238 Seaboard Lane, Franklin, TN
37067; phone: (800) 321-5692. Additional information is available from Larry
Coppock, Commission on United Methodist Men, at (615) 340-7149 or
LCoppock@gcumm.org.

# # #

*Peck is communications director for the Commission on United Methodist Men
in Nashville, Tenn.

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United Methodist News Service
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