Military Chaplain From Holston:
"I CAN SEE GOD'S HAND IN LEADING ME TO THIS PLACE"
By Annette Bender
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – The day after President Bush's war ultimatum on TV, Chaplain David B. Knight Jr. prepared for possible deployment within 48 to 72 hours.
"I'm just kind of waiting. My bags are packed," said Knight, a Holston minister serving as Air Force chaplain at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. "My family and I are bracing ourselves for six months of separation."
The day before Bush's 48-hour deadline expired and war began with Iraq, Knight described the mood among military personnel and their families as "high-intensity."
"Since I've been here in June, deployments have been a reality. There are folks I've not seen in chapel who are deployed there are a few less faces around here. This is noticeable," Knight said in a telephone interview on March 18.
"But I think there's a sense of keeping your chin up and people relying on each other. There's a real strong sense of family here."
Knight is the son of retired pastor David Knight Sr. The Rev. Knight Jr. served Holston churches for 14 years, most recently the church start-up, Wellspring UMC in Maryville District.
Approaching his 40th birthday, the cutoff date for entering military chaplains, Knight felt led to become an Air Force chaplain in 2001. On Sept. 11 at 10 a.m., he had an appointment to submit his application to a recruiter.
"The recruiter there in Knoxville said, "Come on by Sept. 11, 10 o'clock. It should be a pretty slow day.'
"It turned out to be pretty eventful," said Knight, referring to the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon that morning. "They closed down the recruiter's office. I was the last one in. He grabbed my application and said, 'We're going to need you.'"
Knight felt some "apprehension" about entering the military on a day when war was clearly a prospect. "But I think there was a great sense of purpose and of knowing the stress level of military folk was going to be increased by that event. My opportunity to do ministry was going to be multiplied. "God was truly calling me to serve men and women within the military."
Stressful situation
Knight's wife, Stacy, and children Kelsey, 11, and Caleb, 7, love living in Florida, about 10 minutes from the beach. But waiting for her husband to be deployed is "stressful," Stacy Knight admits.
"I was going to be in ministry to all these military spouses and families, but now I'm the one who needs help. If he gets deployed, this will be the first time we've been apart," she says. "It just hit me in the last day or so. Caleb said, 'I'm sure going to miss my dad. Is he going to go over there and tell those pilots about Jesus?'" Stacy Knight pauses before saying, "I'm glad that he's doing this. He was called to do this. It's wonderful to be married to someone who is so excited about his job."
As family ministries chaplain at Eglin Air Force Base, Knight preaches two Sunday church services and leads support groups, couple Bible studies, and divorce recovery programs. He is one of six Protestant chaplains on a base of 2,400 homes. While 500-700 worshippers may attend one of four Protestant services on base, "90 percent of my ministry during the week may not even be with people who come to chapel," Knight says. "I'm reaching people who may have no spiritual orientation. But they come because of their stress or the confidentiality that we provide in support groups. So we're really hitting some practical needs with the programs as far as reaching out to the unchurched and unaffiliated."
When war began to seem inevitable, Knight noticed more military family members coming to him with questions such as, "Where is God in the midst of my anxieties and uncertainties?" Or, "I have a need to renew my faith. It's not very serious. I've never explored the Christian faith before. Can you show me? Can you give me insight about what faith is all about?"
The prospect of war causes "a real spiritual crisis" for some, Knight says, "not just for the people over in the desert but for the families back here, seeking to find support. They may be away from their families; they don't know anybody. So we do our best to [help] them" – by locating support groups, offering counseling or even sending someone over to mow the lawn or change the oil, if needed.
"You can't fix every problem, but we make ourselves available to be a supportive framework for them to lean on," Knight says.
Reenergized for ministry
Knight has a "mobility pack" ready that contains his uniforms, contemporary worship CDs, "and a hymn machine that plays like a thousand hymns" for worship services in Iraq. Any day now, any moment, he might get the call to say good-bye to his family. The Knights have talked about how they will stay in touch: through e-mail, videocam and audiotapes.
Back home in Holston, old friends have been e-mailing Knight, especially after he wrote a letter to the editor in the March 14 edition of The Call, asking readers to pray for military men and women and their families. The e-mail writers encourage Knight, saying they're thinking of him and wondering how he's doing.
"The folks of Holston have given so much to me," he says. "I appreciate their support."
Knight seems ready for whatever lies ahead, although he emphasizes that Air Force people don't know any more than civilians about what will happen.
"We just don't know. We see as much news as you all do," he explains.
In any case, Stacy Knight says she is proud of her husband, who can't wait to get up every morning to go to work.
"This has been a rejuvenation for him," she says.
The chaplain, who can barely contain his enthusiasm, agrees.
"This has reenergized me for ministry," he says. "It's been like a breath of fresh air as far as using the skills and gifts that God has endowed me with. Maybe I used them in pastoral ministry, but they're being multiplied in this situation, with this opportunity.
"I can just see God's hand in leading me to this place."
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