January, 1944
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Day, and who had helped to deal per sonally with these new converts. By such experiences, choice young men are being aided in their preparation for later service as ministers and mis sionaries. Certainly one has good rea son to believe that God is using this period of Army service to make ready some very able and c o n s e c r a t e d preachers of the gospel. Instruction for the Immature But there are also a great many im mature Christians in our camps, men who may have accepted Christ but who know little about the privileges and blessings that are theirs in Him. Still others have been members of churches since childhood but are un certain as to whether they have ever been genuinely converted. Because thes6 men are in dire need of instruction concerning the simple elements of the gospel, an effort is made to present in every message the •most essential facts about Christ’s Person and work and our responsibili ties to Him. Many ways of accomplish ing this are being tried, including un usually simple and clear preaching and teaching, the placing of carefully selected literature concerning the Christian faith in the pews and on tables at the rear of the chapel, and mimeographing on the back of the chapel program each Sunday a de tailed outline of the sermon, complete with Scripture references. Because these calendars are attractive, con taining an appropriate Bible picture or symbol prepared by a soldier artist, men are inclined to preserve them for later study or send them home. Thus the -Word that has been preached in camp also frequently reaches families and friends in many different parts of the country. ' That many of the men who come out of civilian life as nominal Christians really find a- deep and satisfying spiritual experience d u r i n g their period of training is attested in vari ous ways. Some seek baptism; others ask for letters so that they may unite with a church at home. Still others give convincing testimony to their
fellow servicemen concerning the new life they have found. Sometimes the evidence reaches a chaplain less directly, coming to him through letters from parents or relatives who rejoice in the stand their loved one has taken. Only eternity w ill reveal in full meas ure what God is working among these men, but the miraculous changes w it nessed to date bring a chaplain deep joy and a renewed determination to put every talent or ability he may have into his preaching and teaching of the Word. Decision through Direct Preaching One of the hardest problems a chap lain faces is to reach men who have not heard the gospel and who'are not likely to come of their own accord to chapel services. Visiting these men in their hutments when they are off duty evenings sometimes establishes a con tact that leads to church attendance and ultimate decision for Christ. One illustration is found in the case of a young man who had been invited many times by the chaplain to at tend a service, but to no avail. Finally one Sunday morning the chaplain no ticed him, as he was greeting men at the door. Later that same day this soldier came over to the chapel, ap parently anxious to talk over what he had heard. When asked whether he had heard anything that impressed him, the answer he gave was “Plen ty!” The chaplain then inquired whether he had been among those who had raised their hands in response
to the closing Invitation. He said that he was, and so the chaplain took time to give him a much fuller explanation of the meaning of the Christian life. That evening he came to the Service men’s Christian League, and without being asked to do so, took part ■in prayer. At the close of the meeting he also gave a-"clear-cut testimony to his faith in Christ. While formerly he had been something of a problem in his company, his squad leader later commented to the chaplain about the noticeable change that had occurred in his attitudes. Because so many men are in a similar position, having not yet de cided for Christ or having never made a public confession of their faith, the practice has been followed of giving an invitation at the close of nearly every service. Sometimes the response has been far greater than any one had dared to hope, for at a single service as many as thirty men have stood in response to the invitation. Rarely does a service end without at least one or two men reaching some decision, rep resenting either a first acceptance of Christ or a fuller committal of life to Him. And so the fields appear, white unto harvest. In view of the' remark able dumber of conversions that oc cur among those who do come to serv ices^ it is deeply lamentable that only a comparatively small percentage of Protestant men in our camps attend [ Continued on Page 38]
The chaplain (second from left) marches with his men in the training area.
Photograph by V, S. Army Signal Corps.
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