Chaplains serve where called, at home or in war zone
11-10-2008[Editor’s Note: This is the first of a series on United Methodist pastors from Arkansas called away from their churches to military duty.]
By JANE DENNIS
Arkansas United Methodist Editor
Far from home, two United Methodist pastors from Arkansas continue to do the work of the Lord in a hot, dusty, dangerous war zone.
Wes Hilliard, pastor of Heritage United Methodist Church in Van Buren, and James Wainscott, pastor of Brookland and Union Grove United Methodist churches near Jonesboro, are both chaplains deployed in Iraq with the Arkansas Army National Guard’s 39th Infantry BDE.
As garrison chaplain for Contingency Operations Base (COB) Adder and Ali Air Base.Hilliard provide religious support for all military units without a chaplain and for all civilians on the post.
“I cover the Troop Medical Clinic and its support staff, and I am the senior pastor for the Protestant Liturgical Congregation, which is mostly Episcopal and Lutheran, and for the Tallil Gospel Congregation, a large, multi-cultural and multi-national family of very enthusiastic believers,” Hilliard said. “So, I cover a wide spectrum of the Christian family.”
Wainscott is chaplain for approximately 600 soldiers in an infantry battalion. He is currently stationed at Al Asad.
“My job is to provide for the well being of the soldiers,” Wainscott said. “We do convoy security missions, so I go outside the wire. I have been to Jordan border six or seven times. … I go where the soldiers are, and that means traveling with the different companies of the battalion. I do that part for the ministry of presence. If they see the chaplain doing the mission then it may give them hope — hope in the fact that chaplain is walking in faith, and maybe there is something to it.”
He also leads a weekly worship service and a Sunday night Bible study.
Wainscott admits that he hasn’t told his wife that his work involves leaving the base. “I didn’t want her to worry.”
Hilliard and Wainscott has been on active duty since last October and, as Hilliard said, “If all Arkansas United Methodists will pray for us, maybe we’ll make it home by Christmas!”
The hardest part of being deployed, Hilliard said, is being away from his family and finding time for rest or “down time.” Yet, the long days are filled with plenty of spiritual fulfillment.
“The most fulfilling thing is what has always been the most exciting part of ministry for me — seeing people come to faith in Jesus Christ and watching God set people free from hurts, habits and hang-ups. Just getting to be a part of that makes the time here worthwhile,” he said. “The multi-cultural and multi-national experiences with other believers have been very enriching.”
Wainscott said he gets up around 6 a.m. and often doesn’t stop until 11 p.m. “I stay busy in my work. I do counseling, I provide coffee in the mornings to soldiers and I have what I call a ministry of presence.”
Wainscott views the hardest part of his assignment as also the most fulfilling. “I counsel soldier that may be having difficulties back home or in their lives. They may be having stressors placed on them to the point of having difficulty coping,” he said. “It’s not like back home at church were a parishioner comes to see me as pastor. These guys and gals see me as someone to talk with who may be able to help them as an individual, not necessarily as a clergy.”
[Part 2: How congregations cope with temporarily “losing” their pastor to military deployment.]
