Army chaplain ministers in midst of Iraqi insurgency

FALLUJAH, Iraq — Maj. Kenneth Sorenson has traipsed through the Iraqi desert fully armed—this though he carries no firearms, no ammo.

“I feel very safe,” he said. “I’m confident in the Lord and confident in the soldiers’ ability to protect me.”

As chaplain for the Fort Hood-based Black Jacks Brigade, Sorenson supervises six chaplains and serves the several thousand or so men in their unit. His current assignment placed him 10 kilometers outside of Fallujah in early December, a few weeks past their scheduled departure date for home.

“Soldiers are good at taking things in stride,” said Sorenson, affiliated with the Evangelical Church Alliance.

With heightened combat against insurgent strongholds, the unit’s homecoming was placed on hold.

“Going into Fallujah; that was pretty intense,” Sorenson—who was commissioned in 1990 and spent the Persian Gulf war in basic training stateside—said in a telephone interview from his desert camp. “I’ve heard a lot of great stories about God protecting soldiers going into the city.”

One of the most compelling reports, Sorenson said, was made by another unit which had come under attack by rocket-propelled grenades, gunfire and tracer rounds, while trying to rescue a disabled tank. Five soldiers had to dismount their own tank to assemble a tow bar to the broken vehicle.

“Not one of the five soldiers was wounded at all,” he said. “They said it was just incredible to be there and experience that.”

Sorenson gives much of the credit for such examples of providence to stateside Christians who have been faithfully interceding on behalf of the Marines and soldiers stationed in the Middle East.

“The prayers are having an impact,” the chaplain said. “It may not feel like it because of the stories they hear.”

Close enough
Although stationed in a camp outside of the combat zone, Sorenson said there have been times when the action has hit a little close to home, as mortars and rockets occasionally ping across the barren landscape.

“For me they are minor occurrences because I know God is protecting me,” he said. “You have that gut-level awareness that God is protecting you or shielding you. I can’t explain it. I just knew it.”

While removed from the battlefield, Sorenson—whose first Iraq tour last year lasted just over two months—is still knee deep in the fallout from combat. His role is to provide spiritual assistance as requested by the troops, pray with wounded soldiers, hold memorial services and provide worship services. There have also been baptisms in specially lined wooden baptisteries. Sorenson teaches a weekly Bible study when appropriate.

Just a day before his stateside telephone interview, Sorenson said he presided over a memorial service for two men from his brigade. Their grief now tinged with the realization that the deaths would have been prevented if they had been able to return home as scheduled.

“If we wouldn’t have been here, they wouldn’t have died,” he recalled the soldiers questioning. “They understand. They understand why they are needed. Its just sometimes you have to ask the question.”

Sobering losses
During its 11-month deployment, which included one month in Kuwait, Sorenson’s group lost 20 in battle deaths, including five in Fallujah. Three more died in non-combat incidents.

“Many of the challenges are greater now because of the extension,” the married father of four acknowledged, saying that soldiers and Marines alike go through an “emotional exhale” when their deployment is extended.

Besides hosting memorial services, Sorenson and his chaplain team works to debrief the soldiers, helping them work through the battle-related stress.

“It depends on how engaged they are,” he said of the type of spiritual support and guidance the soldiers receive on the field.

An amazing side benefit to his ministry, Sorenson said, are the number of Third World workers who are being exposed to the gospel while offering relief assistance to Iraqi civilians side by side with the U.S. military. Sorenson said a number of baptisms have been conducted and the group is always looking for appropriate foreign language Bibles they can distribute to new converts, items that can’t be purchased through their religious services budget.

Bibles sought
As the holidays approached, Sorenson said the soldiers and Marines were being inundated with care packages and that the most immediate need from his perspective are Bibles, particularly the Journey Bible, a favorite of the troops.

Already Sorenson is looking toward home, with plans in place to help minister to the newly converted and recommitted upon their return.

“We want to help them follow through with that in a holistic way,” he said, citing post-war stress that can sometimes emerge in unhealthy ways.

“It’s something we are always aware of, but it’s not something we anticipate from these soldiers,” he said.

In the meantime, they meet together, leaning on each other and the Lord. Sorenson recalls a Bible study meeting where the Holy Spirit ministered to them for more than three hours.

“We had a real saturation of the Holy Spirit,” he said. “We were touched by God.”

So much so that several of the extended soldiers said they were glad they were still in Iraq so they didn’t miss that experience.

“Its wonderful being here, wonderful being a chaplain,” Sorenson said.

For more information on how to supply Bibles, send an e-mail to kenneth.sorenson@hood.army.mil.

Published by Keener Communications Group, January 2005

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