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Covenant Chaplain Headed to Afghanistan
SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI - (May 26, 2004) - While one Covenant chaplain, Noel
Cisneros, recently finished extended military service, another is headed
to the Middle East to serve in Afghanistan.
Judy Hamrick of Ravenswood Evangelical Covenant Church in Chicago, a
chaplain for the 25th Infantry Division (Light) Artillery, is headed to
Afghanistan to assist the U.S. Army in the coming months. Hamrick, a
native of Kent, Ohio, has been in Hawaii since July last year after
serving a year as chaplain for the 45th Corps Support Group (Forward).
Currently in her 11th year of military service, Hamrick earned her
undergraduate degree from Nyack College in New York and a Master of
Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack with post graduate
orientation classes at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago.
Chaplain Hamrick's previous assignments include Chaplain, 84th Engineer
Combat Battalion (Heavy), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Chief, Department
of Ministry and Pastoral Care, Dewitt Army Community Hospital, Fort
Belvoir, Virginia; Chaplain, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington
D.C.; Battalion Chaplain, 194th Maintenance Battalion, Camp Humphreys,
Korea; and Battalion Chaplain, 19th Maintenance Battalion, Fort Sill,
Oklahoma. She said her new post has seen action recently and describes
the area as dangerous. She will visit three battalion chaplains and
several civilian reconstruction teams, among her extensive list of duties.
"Your prayers will be most especially appreciated on this deployment,"
said Hamrick in a recent email. "We are going to a very primitive site.
There are plans and dollars to build up this base, but in the meantime,
mail will come about once per week, and a PX (Post Exchange/store) will
be available once per month. Meanwhile, the living conditions are
dry-rotted tents with no heat or air conditioning in a place that can
have extremes in temperature from below zero to above 125 degrees
Fahrenheit. Please pray for our safety as we transition to the site and
replace the unit that is currently on the ground. Please pray that there
are no delays in the construction so that soldiers have a safe place to
sleep. Please pray for our health, as this is a high-risk area for many
diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and Leismaniasis. Please pray
that we are successful in winning the hearts and minds of the people in
the neighborhood, so that we can help them rebuild after the effects of
over 30 years of war.
"Most of all, Hamrick continued, "please pray for our soldiers' spirits,
that those who are people of faith will grow deeper during this
challenging time, and that those who have not yet come to faith would
put their trust in Jesus. Also, please pray for me as their spiritual
leader, that God would fill me with his strength and wisdom as I
minister in His name."
Mail may be sent to Judy Hamrick (avoid use of chaplain title) in care
of HHB DivArty,
CJTF-76, 25th Infantry Division (Light), APO-AE 09354-9998.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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