There was concern for our military personnel and armed forces during the recent government shut-down. We wanted to post this article we ran in The Connecter this past November about several military leaders who are outspoken Christians. Take the time to lift these men and women up in prayer along with those who serve alongside them. 

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Just as we face a spiritual battle in heavenly places, so our military leaders are in a real battle facing a very real enemy. For those leaders who follow Christ, our intercession for them is critical as they face constant threats from both spiritual and natural enemies.

U.S. Army Major General Julie Bentz is the Vice Director of the Joint Improvised Threat Defeat Organization. She is responsible for keeping U.S. soldiers safe in war-torn areas and has served in numerous military capacities for more than 30 years. She is also a Spirit-filled believer in Christ who has gone on record as praying for all those who are under her command. At the recent Kansas Prayer Breakfast, Bentz stated, “I love this job. I get to make decisions, I get to empower my people, champion our mission—and our mission enables the war fighters to adapt to the surprises encountered on the battlefield and defeat the improvised threat. Isn’t that a cool mission?”

Bentz grew up as the youngest of five children in a Catholic family. She received Christ in the early 1970s (along with her entire family) after two of her sisters went away on a church retreat and came back “saved.” She claims “. . . it was a whole-family conversion.”

Describing herself as a “charismatic Catholic,” Bentz spent time as a missionary overseas before earning a doctorate in nuclear engineering and returning to active duty in the National Guard. She takes her role seriously, especially in prayer. “My greatest privilege is standing in front of my King and my God, carrying every member of my organization to His throne and asking for His protection, His mercy, His love on each of them. . . . That is what I have come to believe is the essence of leadership.” It was this statement at the Kansas Prayer Breakfast that got the attention of at least one watchdog group that opposes open displays of Christianity in the military.

Lieutenant General Steven Kwast is another leader recently threatened for his public testimony of faith in God. He is Commander and President of the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, leading the intellectual and leadership center of the U.S. Air Force.

In a 2017 interview with the River Region Living magazine, Kwast responded to a question about how he made decisions regarding his career. “I’m not so arrogant as to think that I can make any plans unless God’s in it. God opens opportunity all over the place. My goal is to be prepared for any opportunity that God puts in front of me. . . . It’s about being prepared so that someday God can say ‘well done, my good and faithful servant.’”

Kwast speaks as one who understands the power of faith. He spent the first ten years of his life in Africa as the son of missionaries in an area of political upheaval and lawlessness with no government protection. Seeing his father once held at gun-point by terrorists, the young Kwast was determined to make a difference when his family returned to the States. He joined the Air Force, flew as a pilot in combat, and has served the White House administration in numerous capacities since 1997.

Faith, family, and freedom are all key values for Kwast. One of his role models is King David. “He was an imperfect man,” says Kwast. “But because he loved God, God could use him. I’m imperfect but I love my God and I hope that He can use me.”

Major General Dondi Costin, U.S. Air Force Chief of Chaplains, is another military leader who was marked at a young age. He grew up Baptist and was called to the ministry in high school. Because of his fear of speaking in public, he decided to join the Air Force. Even so, God continued to call him. In an interview with Liberty Journal, Costin said of his speaking skills, “[God] showed me that if He could do it for Moses, He could do it for me.”Costin went on to become a chaplain, earning eight additional degrees as well as 21 medals to add to his impressive military record.

His life verse is 2 Corinthians 3:17, “. . . where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (kjv). He recalls his home church, Freedom Baptist Church, being birthed in his parents living room on July 4 of 1976, America’s bicentennial year. In the August 2017 newsletter of the Liberty Baptist Fellowship of Chaplains, Costin writes, “The more I ponder the providence that is military ministry, the more connections I count between the Father and freedom.”

It is this passion for knowing true freedom through faith in God that fuels many of Costin’s famous invocations and benedictions at public gatherings. His prayers both stir listeners and draw criticism from his detractors. Knowing the power of his platform, he says, “Public prayer is one of the greatest privileges and opportunities that a chaplain is allowed to take part in. The opportunity is demonstrating publicly that God is real, that He cares for us, and that He’s powerful enough to answer in keeping with His will. I just try to approach the throne of grace with as much confidence in public as I do in private” (from interview with Southern Seminary Magazine). Costin’s boldness in prayer is a challenge for all intercessors. As we face constant threats from opposition—both physical and spiritual—may we stand strong alongside our brothers and sisters in the military.

*To download a free Prayer Guide BOOKMARK to pray for the military and their families, CLICK HERE. 

• Wanda Alger, IFA Field Correspondent