‘Military survival kit’ requests inundate A/G

By John W. Kennedy (6/27/04)

An Assemblies of God Chaplaincy Ministries outreach to provide free gospel literature to members of the military has proven so popular the department is looking for additional methods to fund it.

Last year, A/G Chaplaincy Ministries sent out “military survival kit” samples to a dozen A/G chaplains.

The kits, which cost $10 apiece to produce, include: a small camouflaged canvas bag; a camouflaged pocket-size New International Version New Testament that also contains Psalms and Proverbs; a booklet called Psalm 91: The Ultimate Shield; a plastic wallet-size card that lists the military code of conduct on one side and a Christian code of conduct on the other; American Tract Society testimonies; a “United We Stand” dog tag that quotes part of Psalm 91; Now What, a guidebook for new Christians written by Ralph W. Harris; and a coupon redeemable for a free six-month subscription to Today’s Pentecostal Evangel.

The trial run resulted in orders for 400 kits. But orders began flooding in once the news of the kit’s availability hit the Chaplaincy Web site earlier this year. The kits are free, but only to members of the armed forces who request them through an A/G chaplain.

Chaplaincy Ministries ordered 5,000 kits, but ran out. By mid May, A/G chaplains had submitted requests for more than 7,000 survival kits for the military personnel they serve.

Light for the Lost, Boys and Girls Missionary Crusade, and the National Sunday School Department have stepped in to help provide funding for the project.

“We want to do what we can when we have the opportunity to support our military,” says LFTL National Coordinator Benny Ferguson. “This will provide necessary tools for our chaplains to be as effective as possible.”

The A/G has 120 active duty military chaplains plus another 30 in the National Guard and Reserves. More than half of the kits are being sent to Iraq, where the Fellowship has 23 chaplains stationed.

“This is a terribly tragic time in our world because of terrorism, yet opportunities abound to get out the gospel message,” says Chuck Marvin, A/G Chaplaincy Ministries military representative. “People who normally wouldn’t be thinking of life and death in peacetime are doing so now. In the midst of it, chaplains are holding out hope.”