Deploying the Creation Message

Camp Echo, Diwaniyah, Iraq, about 8:45 on a Thursday evening. An explosion is followed by the alarm “Incoming!” and everyone rushes to a bunker to sit out the rocket attack. As they wait for an hour in the 110-degree heat, soldiers talk about . . . creation and the authority of the Bible.

How does Genesis become a hot topic of conversation in such an unlikely place?

In 2010, Staff Sergeant Forrest Wade deployed with the U.S. Third Armored Cavalry “Brave Rifles” to Contingency Operations Station Echo in Iraq. While home on leave, he attended a creation seminar, where the speaker asked advice on reaching deployed soldiers with the creation-based gospel message.

Sergeant Wade replied that he was on his way to Iraq and would be happy to carry the message; so the speaker gave him several creation videos, including some from Answers in Genesis, and encouraged him to share them with deployed soldiers. When he returned to COS Echo, Sergeant Wade asked the base chaplain for permission to present the videos. The chaplain enthusiastically agreed, and from that point on, every Thursday night was creation night at the chapel.

And that is why one night, after a meeting was interrupted by incoming rockets, soldiers were discussing the authority of Genesis—and all of God’s Word—in a bunker during a rocket attack.

Through a simple act of obedience God's Word has spread to three continents.

That’s not the only way God has blessed Staff Sergeant Wade’s efforts. Soldiers and civilians from all over the United States attended the creation video showings, as did many Kenyans who worked under contract as guards on the base. One of them was so inspired by the message that he enrolled in a Bible college in Nairobi and is studying to go into full-time creation evangelism in his country. Meanwhile, the creation ministry continued at COS Echo even after Sergeant Wade rotated back to the U.S.

Through a simple act of obedience, one person, burdened and willing to spread God’s Word, has seen his efforts expand on three continents. What opportunities has God given you to reach others for Him?