Branching Out to America's Military

"Before I went to basic training I didn’t read the Bible or believe in God,” writes PVT Michael McIntyre. But it didn’t take long for the typical trials of military service to strike home.

After his first three weeks at boot camp, Michael’s girlfriend phoned him to end their relationship. Heartbroken, Michael instinctively sought out a Bible. He read Psalm 13, where the Psalmist laments feelings of abandonment similar to ones the young soldier was feeling — the words spoke to his pained heart.

By the time the Private got to Psalm 91, he was embracing as his shield a God whose existence he had previously doubted — he believed God was with him; the Word of God had given his life new meaning.

Michael’s conversion wasn’t the terrifying, foxhole kind. Rather, his experience points to the more mundane, if incessant and unsettling pressures of military life — a life of never-ending transition and instability.

It is for men and women like Michael, both active duty and veterans, that American Bible Society seeks to provide life-changing tools built around God’s Word.

Leading from Experience

Retired Army Chaplain Rev. Dr. James J. Puchy, executive director, National Ministries, sees military personnel as one of the most challenged populations in the country.

He knows; he attended Army ROTC and was commissioned as an Air Defense Artillery officer in 1978. While stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., the young line officer joined a Bible study led by Chaplain Bob Collins. True to the theme of their study in 1 John, “That small group loved me,” recalls Jim.

Rezilient Life enriches the spiritual experience of teens of military families. | Read Now »

Alone on his daily run one morning, contemplating what he’d been learning in his study — the claims that Jesus made — his offer of new life, Jim came to a decision. He returned to his battalion with new purpose — with his mind and heart set in a new direction. He sought ways to share his new Christian convictions. He says, “At the chapel I started teaching a Bible class to third graders.” He summarizes, “I felt like David confronting Goliath.”

In 1988, Jim Puchy returned to the Army as a Chaplain to confront, head-on, the stress and instability he saw in the lives of his fellow Soldiers.

Reaching a Church of Families in Uniform

“Our military represents a huge mission field; it’s a group we should care about,” says the retired Colonel. “When we think of our armed service personnel, what comes to mind first are the nearly 2 million Soldiers, Sailors, Air Force personnel and Marines deployed on active duty. But for each of these there are their husbands and wives, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, grandparents and other relatives. Add to that more than 24 million Veterans and you have a people group of more than 100 million; that’s a third of our nation.”