Melvin Family Troop Movements

Well, indeed much has transpired here in Arizona. The long & short of it...I was pushed through the rest of my CHOBC this past spring; promoted to the full-time support chaplain for the AZ Army National Guard; accessed as a new, full-blown chaplain into 2/180th Field Artillery Battalion; then promoted to the Family Program Director for the entire AZ National Guard.

Then came the biggest surprise - I was notified that I was to be cross-leveled over the brand-new Infantry Battalion, the 1/158th and deployed with them as their battalion chaplain beginning in early January 2007.

Certainly we're excited to do the deed - walk the calling, move where you're trained. As our family has adjusted to the initial shock, the biggest hurdle is now "getting out the door" - I'm finishing school this fall at Phoenix Seminary (and supposed to find a correspondence course in Hebrew Syntax & Exegesis), handing over chaplain duties on the full-time side, training my family program replacement... oh yeah, I almost forgot...I'm supposed to be a husband and father - yes, yes.

We covet your prayers. On many fronts. First the home front: Pray for Mom and the munchkins - safety & growth. Next the war front: Pray for the salvation and safety of our men. We deploy to OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan) to conduct PRT missions - these are Provincial Reconstruction Teams. Our BN (Battalion) will provide 12 security teams to protect our civil affairs guys as they go about the country rebuilding roads, schools, immunizing children, etc. Even from the world's perspective there is certainly "meaning in our mission." Perhaps one final prayer request: Pray for some unique opportunities to grow out of this deployment for churches to partner with chaplains and their units to "adopt" them. The National Guard especially, with its imbedded community presence should be a place where local church ministries may work at a fevered pitch to repair the strained homes and relationships brought on by deployment. Most certainly, these partnerships may provide windows of eternal ministry as family commit or re-commit themselves to the Kingdom.

Blessings with more to follow!