Vietnam: Time to Remember
"The CDs are here!" My heart beat a little faster when I read my administrative assistant, Julia's simple message. One more step toward our ultimate goal of offering help and hope to a segment of our country's population that never received the thanks or respect due them. Our entire team worked so hard to produce this newest resource,
.
Two Powerful and Transparent Interviews
is the last in our series,
. A few years ago, several of our team started travelling to Washington, D.C., on Memorial Day Weekend to distribute our military resources, Demons of War and War and The Family to the hundreds of thousands of Vietnam Veterans and their families who arrived at the Vietnam War Memorial Wall to remember their fallen loved ones.
started the
over twenty-five years ago in order to keep alive the memory of those who had given their lives in the Vietnam War and those who are still missing. Each year, a group of veterans start the journey to Washington, D.C., in California, riding motorcycles across the country, picking up more and more travelers along the way, until they merge with hundreds of thousands of riders in our country's capital. Get a taste of the event by viewing the
Rolling Thunder Official Video
. Our team members connected with some of those involved with Rolling Thunder and the next year, our resources were distributed along the route to thousands of veterans and left at veterans hospitals. On one Memorial Day weekend, our team met Burt Kephart, whose son was killed in Iraq. Burt and his wife, Donna, agreed to be interviewed for
resource, along with Richelle Hecker, whose husband Bill died in Iraq as well. On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, we sent
The Ultimate Sacrifice
resource (featuring their stories) with a personal note to every Gold Star family who had lost a loved one in the War on Terror since 9/11/01. Sadly, we continue to send this resource to newly bereaved Gold Star families every month.
We Need Another Resource!
Every year, our team came back from the trip and said, "We need a resource for Vietnam veterans. They appreciate what the resources that focus on Iraq and Afghanistan, but Vietnam has its own DNA, its own culture." And so, we prayed that God would burden a Vietnam veteran to share his or her story. Cathy Shreckengost, the wife of John, a Vietnam combat veteran, agreed to share her story of marriage to a man who struggled with post traumatic stress disorder. A few years previously, I had asked John to participate in the production of the Demons of War resource. At first he agreed but then with tears withdrew from the project. It was too hard to go back into the darkness. So when Cathy told me both she and John were ready to be interviewed, I was floored. What changed for John? He shares the answer to this question in the interview.
Why This Resource?
Learn more about this resource and why it's important when you visit
. The need for help and hope for some of the veterans of this conflict is critical. On Saturday, May 24, 2013, about fifty people will represent MARKINC Ministries and travel to Washington, D.C., to distribute thousands of our resources that are designed to offer help and hope to the hurting. They are ready to share the gospel if the opportunity presents itself. In addition to this distribution, over 10,000 of our resources are being distributed along the Run for the Wall route from California to Washington, D.C. Please pray for each member of our team as they go into the broken places of life in order to "find" brothers and sisters who do not even know they have been adopted by our Father in Heaven! What an amazing privilege God has given to us!
Like MARKINC on
to get updates of this journey. Every one of these resources is free to the recipient but it's not free. If you would like to help underwrite this and other projects designed to offer help and hope to the hurting, you can
.
This Memorial Day, remember to pray for those families who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country and for those who pay a price every day as they struggle to live with the memories of war.
In His grip,
Sharon