CRC Chaplain Serves on Iraqi Oil Rig

Rev. Lt. Shawn Bootsma is a U.S. Navy chaplain who is assigned to a destroyer squadron that has been deployed on an oil rig in the waters off Iraq.

It is by no means a typical assignment for the Christian Reformed Church chaplain, he says in a letter about his work updating church officials in Chaplaincy Ministries at the CRC’s office in Grand Rapids, Mich.

"Typically, our mission is on the ships, each given a respective area of responsibility stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Northern Arabian Gulf," he says. His duties as part of the destroyer squadron "typically entail flying from ship to ship on a regular basis performing services, counseling, and educating, and moral advisement," he says.

Officially, he is attached to Command Destroyer Squadron 7 out of San Diego, Calif. The destroyer squadron is part of the USS Ronald Reagan (aircraft carrier) Strike Group. Bootsma has been deployed twice; the first was from May to November 2008, and the second began in May of this year and is still ongoing.

Normally, his squadron spends its time patrolling the waters off Iraq and other countries in the area. But recently it got the assignment of defending the oil platform, which is located in Iraqi territorial waters. Oil is the economic cornerstone of the Iraqi economy, making up between 80 to 90 percent of the country’s income.

"Our mission is to defend the platform, deter any hostile attacks, and transition the responsibility of both to the Iraqi Maritime Forces," Bootsma says. "This is a rare and unique mission, not only for our [squadron], but especially for a chaplain."

His original duties of flying back and forth to ships to hold services and speak to the sailors about their faith or lack thereof have been greatly expanded.

He has been given the title of Theater Security Cooperation/Country Engagement Officer, along with Berthing Officer and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Officer. "Chaplain squeezes somewhere in there," he says.

"So in addition to providing services and Bible studies, my particular role is to create social events and environments to engage U.S. and Iraqi forces on an interpersonal basis," he says.

His superiors have determined that the best way to deal with the Iraqi maritime forces is to learn to get along with them and, if possible, to become friends. The idea, Bootsma says, is to “complement the professional training with community relations.”

Although he has become in part a social director, the job has a deeper value than to just make sure everyone is having fun.

"The Iraqi culture highly values social standing and personal interaction more than our common, Western, 'business before pleasure' expectation. Therefore, we typically do ice cream socials, game nights, movie and popcorn nights, and tea socials.

"In a way, it’s a modified and non-formal international relations task, specifically designed by and for chaplains," he says.

As it turns out, he enjoys the job and sees it as a form of ministry.

The Iraqi culture is deeply religious. Having the presence of a chaplain, even Christian, aboard the oil rig is regarded with a measure of respect by most of the Iraqis.

"Simply put, this position is a fantastic privilege and comes with remarkable opportunities to demonstrate through character and action the virtues of our faith," he says.

During ice cream socials and game nights, he has had many conversations with a range of people about the similarities of, and differences between, the Christian and Muslim faiths. Each conversation, he says, "is unique to each individual. The Muslim faith is, in many ways, as diverse and varied as our own, down to the particular person."

No two people will talk the same way about their faith, he says.

In all the chaos of two deployments in the last year, he realized he had failed to update the chaplain branch of the CRC of recent events.

So in his letter, he apologizes for not writing sooner. "Sometimes we get so caught up in where we are, we forget where we're coming from; that's about the time a moment of sanity reminded me I still have a church that needs to know where its people are and what they are doing."

As a prayer concern, he asked people to pray for his wife, Catherine. She is pregnant with their fifth child. "She definitely has her hands full but is doing well overall. I should make it back before birth, but that is always a tentative plan unfortunately," he says.