wfn.org | Military families seek shelter in faith

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Nov. 5,2003 News media contact: Kathy Gilbert7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 
7   E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org 7 ALL{527}

NOTE: Photos are available.

A UMNS Feature
By Kathy L. Gilbert*

HINESVILLE, Ga.- Nestled among the pine trees in a small southern Georgia
town is the U.S. Army's largest armor training base east of the Mississippi
River.

In January, more than 15,000 men and women left the pinewoods of Fort Stewart
and Hunter Army Airfield to head to the Iraqi desert for war. By the end of
August, more than 30 soldiers from the post had died in the war.

Among those returning to Georgia were three United Methodist chaplains and
several members of the Hinesville First United Methodist Church.

For Chaplain Maj. Mitchell Lewis, coming back to his home church has been a
healing experience.

"I'll go into church and sing a hymn and it overwhelms me," he says. "It is
like putting an ankle that is sprained in a whirlpool for a massage. Going to
worship for me massages my spirit, putting my spirit in a whirlpool."

On a warm October Sunday morning Lewis and his wife Sheri, along with three
other couples, reflected on war-what it is like to be in combat, and what it
is like to be waiting at home. 

For many of the soldiers, Psalms 91 was a constant companion and comfort. 

United Methodist Chaplain Capt. Jerry Sieg left his wife Karlyn and their
four children Jan. 25 to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He returned home
Aug. 25.

"Prior to my going, there was assurance I would come back," he says. "All the
time I was over there, seeing all the violence going on around me, a verse
from Psalm 91 'you will only see it with your eyes but it will not come near
you,' kept coming back to me."

Serving in a unit that was "the tip of the spear," Sieg was many times only
100 yards away from the shooting.

Capt. Michael O'Neill, his wife Nannette and their young daughter Emma are
also members of Hinesville First United Methodist Church.

"Struggling in combat is very taxing and your human strength is nothing, it
doesn't last," O'Neill says. 

After hearing a story about a frontline, combat unit in World War I that read
Psalm 91 together each time before going into battle, and suffered no
casualties, Nannette O'Neill "asked me to memorize the chapter before I
left," Michael O'Neill says, smiling and holding his wife's hand.

"Whenever I would feel weak or lonely or afraid, I had the word of God at my
fingertips," he adds.  "Whether it was dark and I couldn't see to read or I
just didn't have time to take out my Bible, the word was with me."

Maj. Ben Matthews agrees that having the word of God in one's heart is
essential.

"In any kind of military conflict, the one thing you have to rely upon is
your faith," he says. "You are away from your family; you are with your
fellow soldiers to your left and to your right but the one thing personally
to hang onto is your faith."

Matthews has been in the Army for 14 years. He and his wife Catherine,
members of Hinesville First United Methodist Church, have been married nine
years and have four children ranging from 1 to 8 years old.

"There were several times when you didn't know if you were going to make it
through the next five minutes," Matthews says. "You can always say a quick
Bible verse to get you through the moment, to give you personal courage to
continue on and do your job."

Both Nannette O'Neill and Catherine Matthews said Hinesville First United
Methodist Church was a place of comfort and support for them while their
husbands were gone.

"If by the end of the week I was feeling down, church really did get my
spirits back up and help me get through the next week," Catherine Matthews
says. "I relied on my friends in the church and the community. Everyone here
understood so much more than my family did." 

"I have never been through a war before," Nannette O'Neill says. "I learned I
have to go to God's word and I have to go to church. I have to reach out and
ask God for help."

When your husband is so far away and so close to danger, sometimes daily
tasks are just overwhelming, she says. "The church was always here."

Sheri Lewis, quoting Psalm 91: 9-10, said the passages spoke to her and
others she knows during the tough times, especially the reference to a tent.

Watching the daily news reports and hearing from imbedded reporters was both
a blessing and a curse, Sheri Lewis and Karlyn Sieg say.

"Every morning I would get up and turn on the TV and hear how many persons
were killed," Sheri says. "I would go look outside to see if a car was parked
out there waiting for me to get up. It was like getting kicked in the stomach
every day. Then again, I couldn't stop watching it.  I wanted to see his
face."

Chaplain Sieg says the most important he will take from this experience is
recognizing "the power of prayer and the importance of doing the right
thing."

"Having seen the lifestyle of the Iraqi people and the way Saddam lived and
how he treated them, I believe we did the right thing. It was about basic
rights and human freedom. There is something to be said about doing the
harder right-- (something missing here?) prayer does change things."

"When you see the enemy melt before you, you realize God's hand is there."

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*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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