“One Sunday, I met a young lady at the Spiritually Fit - Ready to Serve (SFRS) Bible study,” shared Barry, the Cru Military local director at Fort Sill, OK. “She was just sitting there in a wheelchair. I was rushing around trying to get ready for the class when God told me to stop and talk to her. I knelt next to her and said, ‘Hi! What is your name?’”
The young soldier shared her name but nothing more. “She just looked like a shell of a person,” Barry said. “I told her how glad I was that she was there that day. Then, I asked her if she was a person of faith. She said she wasn’t, that she was just exploring. She said she didn’t really know why she was there.”
Barry had to start the class, but he shared with the soldier again how glad he was that she had chosen to attend the SFRS Bible study that day. “The next week at class, I saw her again,” Barry said. “She was sitting right up front.” Barry did not have any more interactions with her that day, but the very next week, he saw her again, and a surprise was coming.
Barry has been helping the chaplain team at Fort Sill with baptisms. “They asked me to do baptisms again,” Barry said. “I’m baptizing one, then two, then three. It is just wonderful! I was so overcome with emotion at the joy of it all. Suddenly, the same soldier I met in the wheelchair walks up and gets into the water.” Barry was stunned. He called her by name and asked, “Have you given your heart to Christ?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” the soldier replied. “I didn’t know Jesus when you met me three weeks ago. But now I know Him.” Barry asked her a few more questions to confirm she understood what faith in Christ and baptism meant, and the soldier professed full faith in Jesus. Barry was honored to baptize her.
“I get emotional just talking about it,” Barry said. “In just three weeks, we saw a young lady go from brokenness and doubt to whole and growing in faith. What a privilege to see a young woman go from separation from God to a member of His Kingdom.”
Barry and his team are seeing God draw more and more soldiers to Himself. “Last year, we had the privilege of sharing Jesus with over 14,400 soldiers,” Barry said. “That was glorious for our second year of ministry at Fort Sill. We are now in our third year, and we have more than 26,000 soldiers who’ve heard the Gospel.”
Robin and I feel so blessed to serve with Cru, which helps broken and doubting people separated from God come to know his love and forgiveness and become members of His Kingdom. Thank you for your partnership in this ministry!
Yours in Christ,
Steve & Robin