Chaplain Alexander Knowles (center) with fellow soldiers in Afghanistan. Photo courtesy Susan Knowles

Somewhere in your congregation there’s a good chance a mom struggles with sleep at night because she fears for her son’s safety in Afghanistan.

Somewhere in your community it’s likely there’s a child feeling isolated from his friends because he lives with the fears and stresses of war every moment that his dad—or mom—is away. No matter where you live, the families of members of the National Guard and Reserve are all around you, though you may not know they are there. And since 9/11, National Guard and Reserve members are no longer just “weekend warriors.” They are in Afghanistan, in Iraq, on assignment around the world, leaving families behind to struggle with the profound impact of separation.

Now, the LCMS program begun two years ago to minister to reserve chaplains—Operation Barnabas—is rolling out a second phase with an opportunity for LCMS congregations to become part of a network to minister to all reservists and veterans.

Great Potential

Susan Knowles says the Operation Barnabas network has the potential for impact for Guard, Reserve, and veterans’ families like nothing else she has seen, even in the military community.

She knows because her congregation in upstate New York, St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lockport, was part of the pilot program for Operation Barnabas, and she has seen firsthand the dramatic effect it has had on lives.

And she knows because her husband, Rev. Alexander Knowles, pastor of St. Peter, is also a chaplain in the New York National Guard, and she and her children have been through his two deployments, first in Iraq and last year in Afghanistan. “During the first deployment my heart cried out for anyone to have an effective response to the needs of the military families isolated and scattered across our country,” Knowles says. “During this deployment it was my privilege to watch God create a new thing.”

Operation Barnabas is an initiative by the Ministry to the Armed Forces, operated under the auspices of LCMS World Mission.

Heading the Operation Barnabas effort is Chaplain Mike Moreno, who worked with congregations through the first phase designed to support military chaplains. Now, he is traveling the Synod, providing workshops to equip congregations to support all reservists and veterans.

Chaplain Knowles and his children, Danae, 13, Alexander, 11, and Abigail, 5, celebrate his return from Afghanistan. Photo courtesy Susan Knowles

Moreno is an LCMS pastor who spent 10 years in parishes before active duty in the Navy. He was deployed in Iraq and taught at the Naval Chaplains School in Rhode Island. Now he is teaching congregations to use the resources they already have to minister to reservists and their families.

“Military families are actively looking for help,” observes Chaplain Mark Schreiber, director of Ministry to the Armed Forces. Their lives are on a roller coaster, before, during, and after a deployment, he explains. “Neighbors can send care packages filled with hygiene items and snacks, but the Church has the greatest Care Package ever given, the Gospel of Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. We are reaching out to our military community in the name of Jesus Christ with love, concern, forgiveness, and the certain hope of salvation. This Care Package from God is able to withstand all the strains of military life.”

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A New Phase for Operation Barnabas