From: "Barb Kavouras (by way of Rev. Eric J. Stefanski, )" To: Subject: CLIMB: Corrected Field Report from Somerset PA 9/19/01 Date: Friday, November 02, 2001 12:28 PM After I sent the field report from 9/19/01, my husband sent this correction. Barb K Cleveland kavouras@multiverse.com Field Report 9/19/01 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Today was a day of amazing lows that ended on a very high note. I thank you for your prayers and I thank God for the answers to those prayers. First, the day itself was pretty normal regarding my work with the personnel. I had opportunity to preach the Word in several one on one and small aggregate sessions. Though I am an FBI chaplain there are no other clergy on sight and so I talk with whoever wants to talk. I normally mill about, introduce myself (I wear a clerical collar, FBI jacket and hat - so I 'm clearly recognizable) and chit-chat with folks. Some of this leads to discussions, or the handing out of the literature which I mentioned yesterday. And sometimes just my presence as a man of God, there in the "foxholes", brings to people's minds thoughts of their Lord associated with His servants. However, while most of "Christianity" thinks this the summit of ministry, I don't consider it nearly adequate, for only the Word, and not Dean Kavouras (Oh wretched man that I am!) can deliver men from the death of sin. At the morgue I sat and talked with several of the area coroners, listened to their pain and talked about "the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting." Personally though for me, today was the lowest day yet. I was asked to participate in Thursday's memorial "service" which the American Red Cross will provide (at United Airline's request) for the families of the deceased. I was told that the name of Christ may not be mentioned at all! and that there may be no reading of Scripture there! I spoke to the other clergyman here (there is one more, though I can hardly call him a clergyman) - one of the two I confronted yesterday for their "universalism" and told him: I will have no part in this, I will not attend, nor I will not be in the vicinity of his person lest God rain down judgment upon him and I get struck as collateral damage. I told him that he cannot in good conscience as a man who wears a collar and calls himself a Christian minister, have any part of this service, and that if he denies the Savior before men, then that same Lord will deny him before the heavenly Father. I put in a call to the ARC (or should it be AR-) headquarters for this sight and told the top man I wanted to meet with him, which I did. I laid out my story to him, told him that most likely 99% of the people there would be Christian and that if he called himself a Christian and believed in the cross he wore in his logo, that he cannot allow this in good conscience. He referred me to the head AR- chaplain(ette), a Catholic. She explained to me that the "service" must be: compatible for everyone. To this I responded that for every Christian there it would be exactly, in-compatible; because a Christian may not pray except in the name of Christ. I warned her as well that in good conscience she could not allow this and that she was denying her Lord. The day was so bad I went over to the Salvation Army tent and talked with one of their officers, inquiring about their doctrine, only as a point of curiosity. There I found a Christian brother whose church body teaches salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone; that there is no salvation apart from Him (he quoted John 14:6 for me as proof); the virgin birth and the unconditional and complete divinity of Christ our Lord. The sacraments, of course we disagreed on, and I told him I didn't come to argue, only to inquire; but that he had been a great comfort to this poor lamenting Jeremiah and dejected Elijah. Please don't take my words as approval of that denomination, for they do err on many important points but thank God for what was good and true there. He was as dismayed as I regarding the AR-. All this having transpired I had the comfort of dining with Pastor and Mrs. Dan Hahn and their five lovely children in Johnstown, PA, about 30 miles north of the sight. When I learned last Saturday I was coming here I searched out area pastors who might lend me their assistance and counsel while working in a strange area. Pastor Hahn has been a willing and able assistant and friend to me. Tomorrow evening I plan to teach his midweek Bible class on Psalm 46. At his dinner table, "the worm slowly started to turn" for me. His evening devotion was from a children's book which the family reads each night and the theme verse was Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be *discouraged*, for the LORD (Christ) your God will be with you wherever you go." At the conclusion I asked Pastor Hahn to read the verse one more time. Now I'm no touchy-feely kind of guy, as you all know, and I didn't break down and cry, but I sure needed that verse on this night. It was an answer to your prayers when you asked "give Pastor Kavouras strength and courage in his work". And the worm continued to turn. Last Saturday I began to talk with Special Agent Steve Spruill from Quantico who is in charge of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for this sight, they look after the mental health of our people. This is the unit under which FBI chaplains work. Today Steve and three other EAP personnel arrived on scene. We met briefly and went about our work. This evening I stopped in to Steve's hotel to see whether he had settled in okay, and we began to talk. He said that he wanted me to know that he was a Christian, formerly LC-MS, but now Baptist and that Christ had changed his life and that he was still alive today because of his Lord Jesus Christ and a second chance given him. He told me he supported my work and was thrilled that I was on scene and to move forward with all vigor. After I recovered consciousness - I said that we needed to talk. I told him my story, and when *he* recovered consciousness, things began to change. I offered that on Friday, if he thought it appropriate, we go below to the recovery sight rest tent, and offer to those recovery personnel who are interested, a Christian prayer service to be led by Chaplain Kavouras. To this he readily agreed and outlined how he would publicize it. I'm proposing we another for our personnel at the morgue. So, though the Word of God may not be preached to the poor families (it might, yet), at least the people I have been assigned to shepherd (and others agencies here as well) will hear it. In closing, the people of the area have been bonded into one and give us everything and anything we need, often for free, or for greatly reduced rates. Two massage therapists from the area offered their services and set up what they call a "chair massage". Many of us took advantage of their ministrations. I took a helicopter tour of the whole crash area with the Pennsylvania State Police, it was quite a site. The helicopter pilot tells me that he * surmises * that the plane came down nose first at about 600 miles per hour, that most likely the passengers rushed the cockpit, knowing from cell phones that other places had been attacked; that they forced the plane down before it could reach its destination - greater love hath no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friend. I viewed some of the recovered US mail (the flight was carrying 2000 pounds of mail) and other personal articles. How real that made it for me (and yes, this is where I cried if you must know). Before I close again with 1 Peter 5:6-10, I ask you not to use what you've read here to say anything to or about the Red Cross, I will deal with that most effectively later. We are engaged in a war, the Church is, but it's not against flesh and blood. The LORD of hosts (Hebrew "sabaoth" which means "armies) is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. Onward Christian soldiers. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, and He will exalt you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be sober and alert, for your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you! and make you strong! firm! and steadfast!" Rev. Dean Kavouras + + + Confessional Lutherans in Missionary Boldness + + + The CLIMB e-letter brings you unedited, uncut reports directly from the mission field, whether in South America, Africa, Europe, inner-city, rural, or collegiate America, or military installations and battle sites around the world. It is our contention that those who truly hold to the ~Book of Concord~ as the pure exposition of Holy Scripture and the true confession of the Christian faith are also the most zealous supporters of the preaching of the Gospel in every corner of the world and, as such, ought to be kept thoroughly informed of how those endeavors are faring and shown how they may be rightly carried out without the destruction of orthodox doctrine and practice that some within the pale of Lutheranism now advocate. 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