Our Stonecroft Military Ministry Team is comprised of women with a passion for assisting Military Chaplains in their efforts to provide support for active duty military members and their families. As our ministry enters its sixth year of reaching women where they are, as they are, it is even more important for us to understand the ever-changing culture within the military and how it affects the women we are trying to reach.
Three years ago a monumental decision was made to lift a ban on women in combat. The reality is, military women have been involved in combat for years. So not only did this decision open doors for women in special operations and frontline combat, but it also acknowledged the roles military women have previously filled in combat. For example, I recently came across an announcement for an event that would honor a Greenville, SC woman with the Purple Heart for being the first female combat
pilot in history to be killed in action. Her name was Captain Kimberly Hampton. She was shot down at the young age of 27 in Fallujah, Iraq in 2004. She and many other women continue to sacrifice their lives in support of the fight against these unpredictable and zealous terrorists. Yet there’s continued speculation about the effectiveness of women in combat.
Only time will tell whether women will be able to meet the rigorous combat readiness standards. Either way, these decisions will dramatically affect military women and their families more than many of us can comprehend. Military women already face many challenges that may become more prevalent when put in combat situations. Historically women have to deal with perceptions of over-emotionalism, and therefore, weakness and an inability to make sound decisions. They’ve worked harder and longer to prove themselves equal to their male counterparts. This, combined with the stressors put on their families as their children grow up with a mother who is deployed for months, and sometimes years on end, has resulted in feelings of failure, guilt, and isolation.
What a unique and wonderful opportunity to give back to these women and their families for all the sacrifices they continue to make. It is as much a blessing to us as we hope it is to them. So we will continue to work with Chaplains to determine the best ways to meet women where they are, as they are, in this ever-changing military environment. We will continue to pray for wisdom and discernment as God opens the door of opportunity.
“But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the scriptures say, ‘How beautiful are the feet of the messengers who bring the good news!”
– Romans 10: 14-15 NLT
Then I heard the Lord asking, ‘’Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” “Here I am Lord, Send me!’’
– Isaiah 6:8 NLT
