Ministering to the Military in Our Midst

“Be on guard.  Stand true to what you believe.  Be courageous.  Be strong.
And everything you do must be done with love.”

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NLT

                                                                      The Challenges 

• “Foxhole converts” may not have fully understood conversion to Christ and the necessity of repentance and confession of sin.
• “Foxhole converts” may have had no immediate follow-up guidance after their decision. Consequently, they may have adopted a very unusual set of religious practices (mixing practices from multiple religious traditions).
• Immediate follow up after their conversion may have been done by someone of another faith tradition or practice.

                                                                  Potential Issues at Home
                                                                 

• Military member experiences a dramatic conversion while deployed, and returns to a spouse and family who do not share his/her religious convictions
• Spouse at home experiences a spiritual awakening while the military member is deployed,  and the military member comes home to a “different person”  than when he/she left
• Deployed military member returns more hardened to spiritual things
• Deployed military member comes home with new “habits”—smoking, alcohol use, language, etc.
• Prior to deployment, both spouses were involved in their church, but the deployed military member returns to find the spouse cool to spiritual things

                                              Follow Up Materials for New Believers

• Ten Basic Steps to Spiritual Maturity
• Growing in Christ 
• Getting to know Jesus personally