Men's agency helps Boy Scout republish wartime devotional
Also his photo:
Posted on 12/24/2001 5:04:32 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Edited on 04/14/2004 10:04:55 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
ORANGE -- Gene Hunsberger was dying when he heard about the book.
Paralyzed on his left side, barely able to speak, he heard the book was coming back through the work of his grandson.
For the next three years, Evan Hunsberger, then a 13-year-old Boy Scout from Orange, worked on republishing a daily devotional called "Strength for Service to God and Country," the project that would make him an Eagle Scout, attract the attention of the Pentagon and become, in light of Sept. 11, more important than he ever dreamed.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
How may I obtain a copy? Several for friends still on active duty?
I'll check back to this posting for an answer.......
BTW - Thanks so much for sharing the story - proof that foxholes can be a place to find God....
Hoo-ah
Let me include this :
Sample entry from devotional
December 23, 2001
Editor's Note: This devotion was written for Sept. 11 by Dovert Walton McElroy in 1942.
September 11 - "Chosen To Suffer"
All of us are called upon to suffer in one way or another. A great cause, such as liberty, chooses men who are big enough to suffer, men who "can take it."
Great causes have a way of choosing men who are worthy to suffer. And it is through men who suffer that great causes come to victory. ...
In these days the great cause of liberty is again choosing men to suffer for its sake. Shall we who are chosen be found worthy?
Prayer
Our Father, we are being called upon to suffer for the sake of all men everywhere. The great cause of liberty, with all that it means, is calling for men who are worthy. Wilt Thou make us worthy in every way. Keep the high purpose of freedom uppermost in our hearts, and cleanse us from all selfishness. Dedicate us anew to the high cause of world brotherhood, and give us the victory in enduring peace. And so shall our suffering be not in vain. In the Spirit of Christ we pray. Amen.
-- From "Strength for Service to God and Country, Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1942.
Men's agency helps Boy Scout republish wartime devotional
Also his photo:
From the above link:
During an Oct. 18-19 meeting of the commission's executive committee, the agency endorsed the project's concept and supported distribution plans. The executive committee acted on behalf of the 39-member commission, which cancelled its annual meeting following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The commission is developing strategies, including obtaining grants and other financing, to enable the 416-page Strength for Service to God and Country devotional to reach a wide audience, including military bases around the nation and men and women serving in the U.S. Armed Forces worldwide.
The book is especially significant because the number of people searching for spiritual well-being has risen and will continue to rise, according to Larry Coppock, the national director for the denomination's Scouting ministries. The commission, he said, is seeking to get the devotional distributed at no cost to military personnel and reservists as a way to respond to Sept. 11.
Coppock and other commissioners found the devotional to be almost prophetic after reading the original text for the Sept. 11 entry a few days following the terrorist attacks on the country. "It looked like it had been written exactly for that day, even though it had been written 60 years before. It was so appropriate," he said.
fleur-de-lis
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.