Small Miracles in Marjah

The bloody fighting involved in the recent incursion by US Marines and coalition forces into the Afghan town of Marjah has received worldwide media attention. The assault on Marjah, now in the mopping up stage, is the first of its kind in a new intensive focus on rooting the Taliban fighters from strongholds in Afghanistan.

But within the larger story of the battle for Marjah are the smaller, human stories – like the one related by Christian Reformed Church Chaplain Scott Koeman. He experienced the fighting and spiritually tended to soldiers who had been killed and wounded. He even returned recently to the US and visited some of the same injured soldiers with whom he prayed on the battlefield in Marjah as they are recuperating from their wounds at Walter Reed Army Hospital.

A letter that he recently sent to Chaplaincy and Care Ministries of the CRC says that the story, however, begins even before the hard-fought battle for Marjah in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. The story begins with building a chapel.

"At the end of 2009 our Stryker Infantry Battalion received a whole new mission in Afghanistan. We moved from Zabul province to Helmand Province," he writes.

“We had to build a whole new Forward Operating Base. I secured a containerized chapel from the senior chaplain in the south of Afghanistan. It's a whole chapel … complete with sound system, lights, chairs, books, Bibles, etc.,” Koeman writes.

He and a fellow soldier, 1st Lt. Rick Martinus, set about building the wood floor and assembling the chapel tent. Like Koeman, Martinus is a CRC member with ties to west Michigan. They were building steps off the front of the chapel when a Sergeant Major came by and said they needed to make a statement with the front of the chapel, making it attractive so people would know it was there and what it was. He told them they could have as much wood they could gather from the camp.

A Sergeant Major is a high-ranking, non-commissioned officer who often serves as the unit commander's senior enlisted advisor. Koeman and Martinus took the Sergeant Major up on his offer.

"We immediately started grabbing up wood. Before we were done the Sergeant Major came by and asked how much more wood we were going to use ... Jokingly, I reminded him that it was at his encouragement that we expanded our project. He was speechless. He really didn't know how two west Michigan Dutchman would take advantage of a blank check," Koeman writes.

Martinus, says Koeman, is the first CRC soldier he's ever had in his Battalion in 23 years. "Interestingly, I was a Calvin Seminary student when I preached at his church in Jenison," writes Koeman.

Once the chapel was up and running, Koeman began preparing with his soldiers for the attack on Marjah.

"We actually went into the area before the attack began. Due to one of our soldiers being killed in a separate mission, I stayed out of the Marjah mission until after the memorial was over. I got there about the middle of February," he writes.

Basically, he says, he moved around for a week from platoon to platoon with his Chaplain Assistant and visited the soldiers. “We spent the night at each location, building relationships and conducting worship services for the men,” he says.

Thankfully, none of the soldiers under his care were killed in Marjah, but four were injured seriously enough that they were sent back to the U.S. to receive treatment.

"It was surreal to see one of my soldiers in Afghanistan then leave a few days later (for leave in the US) and see him again in a hospital bed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center," writes Koeman.

"While I was at Walter Reed, I also saw our wounded from my battalion and my brigade--which helped me as much as it hopefully helped them. I hope nobody is there when my deployment is over, but if so, I look forward to visit them."

Despite the trauma of serving in a war zone, Koeman says his ministry has been very rich and rewarding. “I can't possibly imagine what more I can ask for. This has to be the richest ministry I can possibly imagine—sharing the grace and peace of God with men in combat, many of whom don’t really have a clear understanding of Christ and what His redemption means for them. In this calling, the Lord has answered my prayers, lifting me up, and opening doors. And He's been challenging me to grow and reach further towards the lost and hurting.”

Meanwhile, his wife, Benita, continues to work on her website for soldier's spouses who are stuck with the loneliness and frustration of being home without their soldier.

"She is also striving to challenge and equip our churches and others to see the need and provide tools to encourage and support military families. The web site, Operation We Are Here, is consistently getting 80-150 hits a day now so it is definitely being noticed and utilized," writes Koeman.