From: Barb Kavouras
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2002 7:23 AM
To: Confessional Lutherans in Missionary Boldness
Subject: CLIMB: Chaplins Field Report 4-23-02

Chaplain's Field Report
Staten Island, NY
Fresh Kills Landfill (Dutch name meaning 'fresh water')
Tuesday April 23, 2002

Dear Friends,

This report comes to you from Staten Island New York.  My arrival here this
morning for a six day tour of duty has been a wonderful and somewhat
heart-rending enterprise so far.  Your encouragement, interest and prayers
have carried me through difficult times in the past, and as I compose this
letter I'm comforted knowing that you will once again share the
inexpressible events of this place with me.

My presence here is due to LCMS Pastor Richard Turner of whom I've spoken in
the past.  Pastor Turner is a chaplain with the FBI's Houston Division and
the Baytown Texas P.D.  When our respective tours of duty ended last Fall,
we agreed that they were too short.  We both wanted more than anything to
come back and extend our opportunity to bring the light of Christ to this
darkest national disaster.  At that time my fellow pastor, big-hearted
fellow that he is, suggested giving the troops a Texas barbecue, and that's
what he did.  He raised the funds and sent some twenty-eight Baytown
policemen and civilians here to do exactly that.  Four of them left Texas
six days ago and drove two pickup trucks (what else?) complete with giant
pits and everything else needed to make New York salivary glands pucker.
Today the rest of the crew arrived at Newark International and is holed up
at Mount Manresa, a Jesuit Retreat House on Southern Staten Island in the
shadows of the Verrazano Bridge.  Sadly Pastor Turner's wife became quite
ill.  Unable to leave home, he asked if I could stand in for him for the
week.  He didn't have to ask twice.

Coming back to this place after six months was, as stated above, both happy
and sad.  I was pleased to see some old friends still at the landfill (and
they to see me); and very glad to once again walk the compound and bring the
Glad Tidings to these folks.  Most importantly, as part of the barbecue I
requested, and was granted permission, to hold a special Service for the
entire compound on Thursday of which I'll say more below.

The moment I entered the landfill, drove up the winding roads, heard the
noises and smelled the smells, all time between October and now instantly
vanished!  I had never left.

I briefly checked in with the FBI and NYPD command posts to let them know I
would be on scene for the week and immediately began to pound the pavement.
Dressed in clerical collar and FBI regalia, armed with the Sword of the
Spirit which is the Word of God, and packing my digital camera (to save
myself thousands of words) I began to walk that familiar territory and the
response was extraordinary.  As I've said before, the so-called "ministry of
presence" is not the be-all and end-all that cowardly Christianity has made
it out to be, but it is something.  The collar and the pastoral concern that
came with it, and the Word of God (both spoken and printed) were as welcome
as I'd ever seen.  Though there are many Biblical metaphors,  the prophecy
of Isaiah 35:7 most readily comes to mind, "The burning sand will become a
pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs."

Though most of our nation seems to have slipped back into their
pre-September cultural coma, the people here have been living a non-stop
horror just by coming to work each day.  With only the slightest scratching,
I found some very raw souls anxious to talk, wanting to tell their stories
and to express the significance of why they were here and what they were
doing.

One woman, a Salvation Army volunteer from Fargo ND,  has a day job as a
computer specialist for a company who serves American Airlines.  On Monday
September 10th she got a call late at night about a computer glitch from an
American Airlines booking agent.  With some patient work,  she was able to
fix the problem and get that agent's anxious couple booked on a flight for
the next day - a flight which never made it past the World Trade Center.
That's why she's here.

When today's photos make it to the website,  you'll see a picture there of
Vinnie and DJ, two civilian contractors working at the site.  They too were
eager to talk to the chaplain, to ask questions, but mostly to communicate
their concerns and their fears of what might happen next.  Both quite
conservative for this part of the country,  they worried about the serious
moral decline in our land and what judgment we might be bringing on
ourselves.  I left each of them an Easter sermon based on 1 Corinthians
15:54 which promises that "When the perishable has been clothed with the
imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is
written will come true, Death has been swallowed up in victory."  May this
pledge of Christ our Risen Savior give them both the consolation they seek.

Some of the NYPD command staff attended a dinner yesterday for several
families of those who perished in this mass murder.  They told me how, by
the work done here, they were able to present still-grieving relatives with
sometimes only the scantiest of remains (in one case DNA identified teeth);
and what abundant joy such relics afforded the bereaved.  Then in a rare
candid moment,  they told me how touched they were, and how they could
barely keep their own composure at the gratitude shown them.

I also visited with the auto recovery unit in their own special area of the
Landfill.  It's their job to examine many hundreds of vehicles for the
purpose of identifying them by their VIN (vehicle identification number) and
to search them for any human remains or personal possessions which might be
returned to families.  The extreme condition of destruction, beyond belief,
meant that many of them had to be cut or spread with the "jaws of life" so a
thorough search could be conducted and items recovered.

This was my first 90 minutes.

Later back at the command post I again was able to view some of the items
found: clothing, drivers licenses, wallets, walkie talkies - things hard to
look at if you're not careful, and let yourself think about them.

So it looks like I'll be in for some long days this week and request your
prayers on behalf of this particular ministry.  My day will start at the
landfill about 7:30 a.m. and end about 5:30.  As before,  I will open both
NYPD roll calls (8:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.) with prayer and Scripture, and
meet with the two FBI Evidence Response Teams (ERT's) on site which are
comprised of eight agents each.  In addition to those hours there is prep
time, field reports, travel and laundry (which must be done each day as the
dump is laden with enough interesting things to keep several EPA types busy
all day long).  While the first three are labors of love, the last two are
necessary evils.

As I understand it, a Texas barbecue takes several days to prepare.  The
briskets started cooking today and will be continuously cooked/smoked until
Thursday, at which time they're supposed to melt in the mouth.  Because of
this special event,  there will be a longer than normal lunch period and
before the lunch we'll conduct the special Service mentioned above.  You'll
receive both a copy of the Service and manuscript of the sermon in an
upcoming report.  I was told by a priest in the area who did the Ash
Wednesday and Good Friday services here that he was allowed only 15 minutes.
But since I was coming 500 miles I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask for more
time than that.  I contacted the NYPD man in charge of the whole site,
Inspector James Luongo and asked if I could have about 45 to 50 minutes.  He
readily agreed and so it will be. I've enlisted the assistance of Pastor
Bill Wrede from Queens to assist me.  Pastor Wrede (LCMS) is an area
chaplain and has spent untold hours preaching the Gospel to people in
connection with 9/11.  He is also an organist and will round up a
keyboard/organ to play the hymns, prelude and postlude.  As an added bonus,
his family is visiting from out of town and will join us to help lead the
singing.  Thank you good Brother.

Lodging was arranged for us at the Jesuit Retreat House named above; Father
Jack Ryan and his crew are tireless servants whose love and dedication to
one and all is remarkable.

Thank you again for spending these moments with me and for your multifaceted
support.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Rev. Dean Kavouras, Chaplain
FBI Cleveland Division
Cleveland Safety Forces

"Jesus lives the victory's won, death no longer can appall me.
Jesus lives death's reign is done, from the grave Christ will recall me.
Brighter scenes will then commence, this shall be my onfidence."  TLH 201.




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