February Issue 2014

I appreciated the article on chaplains in the February issue and while all of the chaplain ministries mentioned are obvious places for ministry to take place, there was one glaring omission. I have been a volunteer chaplain with the Dallas Fire Department and Police in Dallas, Oregon for 17 years. As a chaplain in this position we are often the voice of comfort and grace and God’s love in life’s most significant crisis, sudden loss, whether that is a house burned down or a life lost, through illness, age, accident, suicide or upon occasion, murder. While chaplains can not impose our religious views upon the people we serve, we certainly bathe every situation and person in prayer, sometimes a private conversation with God, sometimes in public with the people directly involved. We serve our citizens and the first responders working to save lives and property. It has been and still is a privilege to be the hands, face and presence of Jesus for folks who may or may not have ever known him.