{"id":29004,"date":"2014-04-29T00:30:14","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T03:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/?p=29004"},"modified":"2016-09-23T09:33:50","modified_gmt":"2016-09-23T12:33:50","slug":"chaplains-serve-in-afghanistan-during-holy-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/29\/chaplains-serve-in-afghanistan-during-holy-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaplains Serve in Afghanistan during Holy Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Stars and Stripes<\/em> recently covered a few chaplains who were busy during the recent holy day celebrations for US troops in Afghanistan:<\/p>\n

US Army Chaplain (Col) Mike Charles serves in Kabul, Afghanistan, has deployed four times, and notes the week celebrating Christ’s resurrection is one of the busiest of the year<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Charles must ensure that religious leaders are available for the week’s numerous religious events – from Passover to Easter Sunday – and that troops across all corners of Afghanistan are able to worship appropriately.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That protection of religious exercise involves both going out to the troops, and bringing the troops to them:<\/p>\n

Ahead of the religious events, chaplains will be pushed out to regional hubs, Charles said. And soldiers who want to worship will be brought into those hubs from smaller posts.<\/p>\n

The movements will involve at least two Orthodox priests, 13 Roman Catholic priests and at least three rabbis.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As an interesting aside, the article notes there are “various translations” of religious texts to serve the many nations in Afghanistan, and there multitudes of religious services every week — including wiccan.<\/p>\n

Another chaplain specifically highlighted<\/a> is US Army Chaplain (Capt) Heather Borshof<\/a> (for the second time<\/a> in just a few weeks):<\/p>\n

A female chaplain is a rare sight in the military. A female Jewish chaplain? There is only one other in the active-duty Army, she said…<\/p>\n

This week, Borshof has hosted two Passover seders at Bagram Airfield, where she is the only rabbi to be stationed long-term. But she said her chief role is to counsel soldiers, no matter their religion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The article notes the military brought in another Jewish chaplain just to support Passover.<\/p>\n

Chaplains in the US military serve a necessary role in protecting the religious freedoms of the troops they serve — no matter where they serve.<\/p>\n

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