Voyageur's Best Features of 2006

March 19, 2006 was a special day for Cromwell when Bethany Church hosted a “Welcome Home” service for the three Mowers brothers and Robbie Larson who had returned from active duty in the war in Iraq. The Service was very moving and much respect was shown for these four brave soldiers. It was a sharp contrast to what we see on TV and read about in the press. Fortunately, we have many local papers that include interviews with returning soldiers in Iraq. These soldiers tell a completely different story than what is being widely publicized.

After the Sunday service I talked to Trace Mowers about the reactions the Iraqi people he encountered had to the United States’ presence in Iraq. Trace’s answer was the same as the others told locally over the last couple of years. He shared how the Iraqi people were extremely grateful for our soldiers giving them freedom and hope for the first time in almost 20 years.

This same gratitude was expressed by Iraqi civilians on a recent Col. Oliver North military show on Sky Angel. North said that our soldiers had rebuilt so many schools and hospitals that there are now more of both than anytime in Iraq’s past. A better life of freedom has come about as a result of our soldiers rebuilding necessary facilities.

In the same conversation that Sunday with Trace, I asked if he had seen evidence of spiritual growth in the soldiers and God’s hand protecting them. He shared how his Cloquet guard unit was combined with a California guard unit to form a larger group. That larger group had the highest casualties of any group, yet not one from their Minnesota unit was lost.

Trace went on to say that they all saw evidence of God’s protection time after time. As a specific example, Trace said that the Minnesota soldiers went on a patrol several times seeing something suspicious along the way. Then a while later, the soldiers from California went down the same street and experienced casualties.

I mentioned to Trace that the prayers of the Cromwell community for their safety had been totally answered by God. I went on to tell Trace how I get the Washington Times newspaper which has had article after article confirming miracles of protection and gratitude from the Iraqi people.

The Times also ran two articles that really caught my attention. One was during the first year of the war where there was a front page picture of troops being baptized in the ocean off southern Iraq. The caption stated that hundreds and hundreds of our soldiers were dedicating their lives to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The article went on to say that there was a significant spiritual impact in the lives of many of our troops. It then gave a specific example of, I believe, the 4th Marine battalion where the commander and top officers were Christians who prayed daily for their troops. Miraculously, there was not one casualty, even in the midst of a bomb hitting one of their patrols in a Humvee.

This is exactly what happened in World War I to the 91st Brigade. The 91st Brigade recited Psalm 91, The Soldiers’ Psalm, daily. Even after going through three of the war’s bloodiest battles, the 91st Brigade did not suffer a death. This was a miracle when many other units suffered as much as a 90 percent loss.

The second article that caught my attention was when the Times ran another front page article during the first part of the war showing our soldiers requesting and receiving 250,000 Bibles to pass out in Iraq. The article said how this was more Bibles being handed out than the combined total of all of the Bibles missionaries had passed out in Iraq before.

When you add the spiritual dimension of the war in Iraq to the above facts, it is difficult to agree with the conclusion that is being brought to us by the press and politicians. Once again confirming this, Monday night, March 27, 2006, Sky Angel Fox News reported a story of an east coast Christian family who lost their son and father in the war. In spite of their difficult loss, the family said that they still see God’s hand in the war.

One can only ponder the spiritual side of the war in Iraq – is it a modern day answer to King Nebuchadnezzar’s altar call to his people at the end of Daniel 4 or is it the beginning of the shaping of the borders of old Israel, as the prophets of old spoke about many times, that will happen sometime in the future?

This article first appeared in the April 4 issue of the Voyageur Press.