Assemblies’ evangelist ministers on the Iraq battlefield

BAGHDAD, Iraq — More than 30 years ago, while serving in the Mekong Delta area of Vietnam, a white phosphorus grenade exploded six inches from Dave Roever’s face, severely burning his face and body. In late December, God called Roever to the Middle East to do perhaps what no other evangelist could do—have access and minister to U.S. military troops and commanders in the Iraqi theater of war.

While contemplating whether to attempt the trip, Roever, an Assemblies of God evangelist, received a personal invitation by the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force to visit the troops.

“I didn’t need much encouragement, booming voices from heaven or hand-written notes...” said Roever, a resident of Forth Worth, Texas. “My love for the military has not waned with the years, but has increased in these dangerous times. Yes, I felt very much the urging from the heart of God to minister to those who lay down their lives for others. Dangerous or not, I had to go.”

When Roever arrived by C-130 aircraft, which spiraled into a combat landing, there was no mistaking the serious risk that accompanied this ministry excursion.

A somber start
Roever’s first ministry stop was the mortuary, where the remains of U.S. service members and coalition partners who die in action are sent and processed. It is a solemn place where Roever was able to minister to the soldiers assigned there.

From there, Roever was allowed to visit the detention center where “guests” from the Deck of Cards are housed and then he was on to the military compound—a former Saddam Hussein palace.

That afternoon, Roever, his assistant Sean Campbell, the chaplain Col. Douglas Carver and Master Sgt. Frank Zepp, the chaplain assistant, traveled to the military hospital in Baghdad.

As the group arrived at the hospital they were informed that less than an hour ago, casualties had arrived. A convoy had been attacked; two soldiers had been killed and five others seriously wounded. Several had already undergone surgeries and were resting. In one of the ICU wards, they come upon a soldier who was lying still. He had shrapnel lodged in his neck near his spine. Roever, Carver and hospital Chaplain Roderick Mills gently laid hands upon the soldier and prayed over him.

The group made its way toward ICU Ward 1. As they entered the ward, they saw a young soldier lying on a table, doctors working frantically over him. The soldier had third-degree burns over 100 percent of his body. The young man was conscious. He was dying. The smell of burned flesh permeated the air, it was a smell Roever knew intimately.

“The soldier looked at peace, but the treatment he was receiving looked excruciating,” Zepp said. “No, he was not ugly, nor repulsive; he was a beautiful human being....”

Roever moved to the young man’s bedside. The doctors paused and asked Roever to pray for the young man. As Roever prayed, emotion and the presence of God filled the room, tears spilling silently from every eye.

“That hospital was no longer a hospital, but a sanctuary,” Roever would later say. “The bed that (the soldier) was lying on was not a bed; it was an altar. And lying on that altar was not just some soldier, but a sacrifice for the cost of freedom!”

The young soldier survived a few more days before dying in a stateside hospital surrounded by family and a chaplain.

“I had the privilege of praying with him on one of his last days on earth,” Roever said.

Mobile ministry
As Roever continued on his trip, ministering to hundreds of soldiers, he used the impacting first-day experience to speak into their lives.

“You can’t know what it’s really like unless you’ve experienced it,” on of the chaplains said.

During Roever’s grueling tour to 14 different locations, he was able to visit and pray with Lt. General Sanchez, the man in charge of all military activities in Iraq, as well as a number of camps and commanders.

“The greatest and most wonderful surprise was to see the level of commitment, determination and will to win, regardless of personal sacrifice, by our incredible troops serving for our freedom throughout Iraq,” he said.

“I was privileged to minister to hundreds of soldiers from Baghdad to Tikrit. The open heart and tender spirit of the troops made ministry extremely easy. I came across hundreds and hundreds of soldiers I had met with on previous occasions. I was no stranger at any time throughout the entire country.”

Although the time Roever spent in Iraq proved meaningful to hundreds of troops, he was quick to point out that today’s military chaplains are the ones to be commended and supported.

“The hearts of our military fighting men and women are very tender at this time,” Roever said. “The chaplain is becoming a hero to the troops because today’s chaplains don’t hesitate one second to be on the front lines where the smells of smoke, blood, burned flesh and gun powder singe the nostrils. The chaplains are fulfilling a role today I could only have dreamed of experiencing in Vietnam. God bless our president and military leadership who see the value of the role of the chaplain in today’s military. They are doing an awesome job in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Roever said he returned from the experience, changed. Having recently received a Purple Heart from the U.S. Navy—34 years after his injuries—and having visited not only Afghanistan and Iraq, but also returning for a visit to Vietnam, there is a “sense of completion is taking place” in his own life.

“I thank God I have been able to serve in the capacity I am now serving, which I honestly feel is more productive than my services rendered during Vietnam,” Roever said. “It is a pleasure to represent the body of Christ and certainly the Assemblies of God in such a fashion.”

For more information about Dave Roever’s ministry, log on to daveroever.org.

AG News Service
Published by Keener Communications Group, March 2004

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