Vietnam: We Remember!
I have two wonderful announcements! The second one is about a Mother's Day Drawing for a copy of Miracles and Moments of Grace. I'll save those details for the end of this post. So, make sure you read the whole thing! You don't want to miss the opportunity to win a copy of this special mom book by Nancy Kennedy (and it includes a story from me!).
But first, let me tell you a story about our first church and my first contact with a grieving family. Chuck and I were 21 years old and so excited to move into the three-story old city parsonage that would become our home for the next three years while Chuck attended seminary full time. Chuck was the new pastor of Wissahickon United Methodist Church in Philadelphia. The old church had some of the most beautiful stained glass windows in the city and its legacy was rich. But the congregation, like so many other city congregations, had dwindled to about thirty people. Not to worry, we were young and totally sold out to Jesus. Before we moved, we were committed to seeing this big, old sanctuary packed once more. It was 1969. These were tumultuous days in our country. Students protested the Vietnam War and thousands marched with hopes of forcing our government to pull out. While Chuck and I were aware of the conflict, we were personally untouched, until we met a broken couple who attended our new church. I was 21 and had never been touched by deep grief. I will never forget the agony in the eyes of this mother and father who told us about their son, their son who died in Vietnam. The anguish was palpable. I wanted to help but had no idea how. I tried to express my sorrow and that I felt helpless and I well remember the mother, gently patting my hand and telling me, "It's ok. I know...there is nothing you can do." I knew that I had looked into the eyes of unending sorrow and that they would never "get better."Many years later, after our children were grown we visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall, we found their son's name and grieved for them, not as 21-year-olds untouched by life, but as parents who had also lost a son. Now we "knew."
Vietnam: We Remember
As we considered new Learning to See When the Lights Go Out resources, we knew our Coming Home from War would not be complete until we produced a resource that addresses post traumatic stress disorder in Vietnam Veterans. Combat Vietnam Veteran John Shreckengost and his wife Cathy agreed to share their redemption story, and holding nothing back, they journey offers help and hope to hurting veterans. Five Thousand professionally produced and packaged CDs of our new audio resource, Vietnam: We Remember were delivered to our office today!
Another 5000 are on their way to California. These resources, along with thousands of our Coming Home From War audio resources will be hand delivered to the Vietnam Veterans along the route as they Run for the Wall from California to Washington, D.C., to gather at the Vietnam Memorial Wall where they will remember their fallen comrades.
Why This Resource?
Total American Lives Lost in Vietnam: 58,253
As of 1973 Missing In Action and Prisoners of War: 2,646
As of 2010 – 1,698 MIA/POW are Still Unaccounted For
The average infantry saw 240 days of combat in one year
The average age of a G.I. in 'Nam was 19 years. Veterans of WWII came home to a celebration and honor. Vietnam veterans came home to a country that despised them. Many of these brave men and women still struggle with the memories of that period. Click here to Learn more about why this resource is important. You can also download, free of charge, this powerful interview with John and Cathy.
In a future post, I'll tell you about our plans to take a team to Washington, D.C., over Memorial Day Weekend with the goal of sharing the hope of Christ through this resource. Please join us in praying that this message of redemption will help turn hearts toward our Jesus.
Don't forget! Leave a comment this week on any of my blog posts and be entered in the Mother's Day Drawing to win a copy of Miracles and Moments of Grace by Nancy Kennedy. Nancy shares fifty mom stories that will make you smile, laugh out loud and get your tears flowing. One of those stories is mine! I'll share a version of that story on Saturday, Mark's birthday. This book is a beautiful Mother's Day gift so leave a comment and stop back on Mother's Day to see if the mailman will be bringing a copy to your door next week! I plan to share some thoughts about parenting adults on Wednesday and on Saturday, I'll repost my Mother's Day Rose story, that Nancy includes in Miracles and Moments of Grace. Leave a comment this week on any of my posts to enter the drawing for this special book!
