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A
Serendipitous Moment
There are simply times in life when you know the only reason something has happened is because God arranged it. On Friday night, I was invited to join a number of other chaplains for a night out at the Army base, Camp Doha, about thirty minutes from Camp Commando. Two of the chaplains have been here for four months or more and are leaving with their units to go back home in about a week or so. This was to be an evening to relax, chow-down on some pizza, and catch a movie. Of course when you’re with a group of chaplains, catching a movie in this instance, is watching a black & white film about the life of the reformer Martin Luther, entitled, Here I Stand. Hey! We know how to paaarty! Camp Doha is a major step up from what we have to offer here at Camp Commando. Besides having more of everything, like a full-service food court, and a larger exchange facility, and most every building being fully air-conditioned, what really excites us about going to Doha is that they have indoor plumbing! In case you haven’t figured it out, the bathrooms there are indoors. At Commando, we have porta-potties. Just outside the back of my tent there are about ten of these necessary structures all in a row. And each morning, a special truck comes to empty them. I refer to it as “Essence of Commando.” So anyway, enough of that. As we were finishing our pizza seated in the food-court at Doha, a soldier walked over to me and said, “Are you a Free Methodist chaplain?” I’m sure the look on my face was something to see! I stared at this guy, scrambling through my memory bank for something that would indicate I should know him. So before I could stammer a word, he says, “I’ve been reading your Roots on Deck articles each week on the Free Methodist web site.” I then looked at his collar devices, and what did I see? Captain’s bars on one side and the cross on the other. He then said, “My name is Rick Winchester. I’m a Free Methodist chaplain too.” Well, blow me over! I looked at him and said, “How did you recognize me?” He told me it was from the pictures that accompany the articles. While he was standing in line to place his pizza order, he saw me sitting there. What caught his eye was not my movie-star good looks, but my uniform. I was wearing the Marine Corps digital desert camouflage that the Army is supposedly coming out with soon. Then he looked at my face and thought, “He looks like the guy who writes those articles.” I’ve got to tell you, I’m amazed that Rick was able to identify me from those tiny photos on the web site. But he surely did. It was so exciting to meet him, a fellow Free Methodist chaplain; neither of us could quite get over it. We sat down and talked for some time and then walked to his command center where I met many of those he works with, including boss, Major Dave Scharff, a Nazarene brother. He had a digital camera and did the honors of taking photos for your viewing pleasure. Rick and I visited for nearly three hours before my group was ready to head back to Commando. He is a former enlisted soldier, having risen to the rank of E7 before sensing God’s call for him to pursue the ministry and subsequently, the Army chaplaincy. Part of what makes this whole experience so serendipitous is that this was my first time to go to Doha strictly for relaxation. As for Rick, he is currently stationed in Baghdad. He and several others from his command made the trip to Kuwait, staying here for only a few days before heading back north. This was a meeting ordained of God. It felt as though we’d known each other our whole lives. Though we serve in different branches of the service, and presently are in neighboring countries, we are only one state apart back home. I’m in California, and he’s in Arizona. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again. Either here, or there, or in the air, the final gathering of the saints around Jesus in heaven will truly be — serendipitous! |
