Crosslight - Edition April 2020

Image:
Carl Rainer
They start to realise and think about
everything that has happened and that’s
when they most need some emotional
support. They might be scared, they
might be disorientated or vulnerable,
so it was just to reassure them that
everything was OK. That’s your chance to
help the person and you can really make
a big difference for them.
Even though there were identified
chaplains, not everyone is a Christian
and not everyone wants to speak to a
chaplain. So, we found they were either
speaking to the paramedics or the
people in the military. What you found
is the older generation spoke to the
chaplains.
With the children you’d have confusion
and, believe it or not, excitement. They
were really happy and fascinated to be
on the military base.
Just hearing children laugh made it a
little bit more OK. It was a very strange
effect. It was so poignant, it changed the
atmosphere, the energy. It just uplifted
you, gave you that little bit of hope. That
little smile, that little laugh made all the
hard work and effort worth it.
I want the church to have a little more
appreciation of what the military does.
I want to show just because someone’s
in the military, it doesn’t mean they
are not Christian or applying Christian
principles. We live the Gospel through
love and service to all.
There’s a lot of Christians in the
military, not just the emergency
services, who are actually out there in
difficult situations. They are the true
ambassadors of the church because
they are doing the hard work that
not everyone can do. Firefighters and
paramedics did more for the church than
the church putting out statements or
saying prayers. People want action, they
want Christian principles and beliefs
applied. That goes for any religion or
organisation that espouses care and
service for others.
I wanted to join the military since I was
a little kid. I joined the Air Force full-time
in 2009 at age 22. I became a reservist in
2013. It’s good to have one foot in both
civilian and military worlds.
In 2014, I got a phone call and 48 hours
later I was in the Middle East.
The whole point of that mission was
to disrupt IS. It was effectively a civil war
based on culture and religion achieved
through intimidation. Every day, IS
would go into a town, kill, steal, torture,
rape and conscript child soldiers. This
awakened in me a deep desire to assist
these innocent people in any way I could.
I didn’t go to the Middle East to kill
Muslims and Arabs. I went to protect
women and children and grandparents
who were being killed by people from
their own country and religion or, even
worse, they were being raped and forced
to send child soldiers or being tortured
and forced to do other things. It could
be likened to hell on earth, but for every
evil act there was a corresponding act of
good.
It’s a completely different environment
on deployment, it’s not the church and
I am not around Christians, but that
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