Ministry urges churches to send Christmas cards to troops overseas
By Jason P. Reagan, The Layman, November 29, 2011
A national, evangelical ministry is calling on Christians to reach out to U.S. soldiers stationed overseas during the Christmas season.
Unto the Least of These (UTLOT), an evangelism and benevolence ministry based in Statesboro, Ga., is asking churches to send Christmas cards to 500 freshly deployed troops, who will spend the holiday stationed near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
The troops will be stationed at Forward Operating Base Sharana in the Paktika Province of Afghanistan.
The province, a known hotbed of insurgent activity and heavy fighting, has been called the most dangerous place in the world for an American.
Located in what the U.S. Army describes as a “windswept piece of terrain at an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet above sea level,” the base is home to the 172nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team and has served as both an airfield and support base for several units including infantry, armor and artillery regiments.
The base is also the Afghanistan headquarters for Task Force Currahee, the 4th Brigade Combat Team and the 101st Airborne Division.
The cards should be mailed to troops in early December UTLOT Director Rick Ogletree said, in order for shipments to arrive by Christmas.
“This is a great need, and opportunity, to share the love of Christ with soldiers,” Ogletree said, adding that U.S. Army Chaplain Brian Smith told the pastor that more troops will be deployed at Sharana over the holiday.
“That means that there are many families who are grieving the anticipated separation of their soldiers to a combat zone during this upcoming Christmas season,” Ogletree said.
“At the same time, families are in great expectation of their soldiers returning home at that time,” he added, pointing out that many will return suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Ogletree recommends that cards be sent as follows:
- On the inside of the card, write: “Dear Soldier;”
- Write a Christmas note to the soldier.
- Close the note with your name, your church or organization name, your city and state.
- Seal the card in the envelope.
- On the envelope, write: “To A Special Soldier.”
Cards may be sent to:
CH (CPT) Brian K. Smith
HHC, 172D SB
FOB Sharana
APO, AE 09311
“Not all of the soldiers, who will receive your card, are saved,” Ogletree said.
Ogletree added that the chaplain could also accept toiletries and Bibles.
UTLOT serves as a ministry to the military as well as, according to the group’s website, “ministering to prostitutes, homosexuals, alcoholics, drug addicts and the homeless.” Ogletree said the ministry gets its name from Matthew 25:40 in which Jesus says: “… inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”
Currently, an estimated 100,000 American soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan. Although the U.S. will be recalling almost all troops from Iraq by the end of the year, the withdrawal from Afghanistan is expected to take place gradually over the next three years. In 2014, the U.S. plans to turn over all security functions to the Afghanistan government.