The ‘Pastors to Chaplains’ project conducted by the Chaplains Ministries Directorate, will be held November held in Kiev, Ukraine, November 5th, 6th, and 7th, 2015. This is truly a unique opportunity for the IPHC to train Ukrainian pastors of various faith groups who volunteer to provide religious support and pastoral care to soldiers of the Ukrainian Army.
During the Global Assembly in Hong Kong, a meeting was held with Bishop Valery Reshetinsky from the Ukraine, upon his request, to consider this request for training. At that meeting he explained that the Ukrainian Army does not have a formal military chaplain institution. This is where we learned that civilian pastors from various faith groups volunteer to go to the sites where Ukrainian soldiers are training and fighting and provide for them, the best they can, religious support and pastoral care. It was determined at the Hong Kong meeting that the IPHC Chaplain Ministries would provide this training.
A team of six has been selected to provide this training; Chaplain (Colonel) Lou Shirey, US Army Retired, Becky Shirey, Chaplain (Colonel) Roger Heath, US Army Retired, Chaplain (Colonel) Philip Chandler, US Army Retired, Chaplain (Colonel) Jerry L. Jones, US Army Retired, and Cynthia Jones. Each of these individuals have skill sets and experience that allows them to address specific chaplain functions, pastoral essentials, and family readiness issues.
The training will be inclusive of functional topics for religious support and pastoral care. Some of the topics for instruction are: History of the U.S. Chaplaincy and Structure, Role of the Chaplain with Commanders and Soldiers, Inspiring Soldiers in Battle, Providing Pastoral Care and Religious Needs, Crisis and Grief Counseling, Critical Incident De-briefings, Post Traumatic Issues and Moral Injury, Hospital Visitation, Suicide Awareness and Prevention, Memorials Honors and Funerals, Spouse and Family Issues and Readiness.
Our leadership in the Ukraine and here at the GMC see this as a tremendous opportunity for the IPHC to join its chaplains and pastors with their experiences in an effort to build the Kingdom of God within the individual soldiers of the Ukrainian Army.
If you are interested in supporting the ‘Pastors to Chaplains’ project, you can do so in two ways. The first and most important is with your prayers and your sharing with others of this worthy effort. The second way is by sending a contribution directly to Chaplain Ministries. The estimated cost for this project is approximately $10,000.00.
Please see the EVUSA home page link to Chaplain Ministries for the address you can send a contribution.