WIESBADEN, Germany - About 90 days had passed for a small team of Soldiers in Afghanistan since they last had an opportunity to participate in a worship service.
Upon hearing this, Chaplain (Capt.) Ben Clark packed up his field service communion kit and went to fulfill his calling of ministering to Soldiers who slept in the dirt.
Clark's second deployment is proving to be exactly what he hoped for. After serving five years in Texas churches as a youth pastor, he started working as a campus minister at the university level with the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Campus Ministry Organization. Clark enjoyed his work and thought he would be serving there his entire life, but after a few years he said he began to thirst for something more, something that challenged him in ways that campus ministry did not.
"Campus ministry began to bore me," said Clark, who deployed with 4-227 Attack Recon Battalion, 1st Air Calvary Brigade, 1st Calvary Division from 2006-07. "I realized after three years I was pretty much doing the same things every year. The only things that changed were the faces. I've always been an adventurous person, tiring easily of routine, repetitive tasks."
It was by mere accident that Clark happened to read an issue of Army Chaplaincy during a conference for campus pastors. In one article, a battalion commander spoke of the value of a chaplain to his staff.
"As I set the magazine down, I was gripped by the desire to be the person that the commander wrote about," said Clark, who has been a chaplain for more than five years. "This happened at roughly the same time I met the Army chaplain at my campus."
Clark said that most of the college students lived an easy and comfortable life on their way to marriage, families and the American dream. However, this would no longer be his mission in life; he wanted to minister to Soldiers.
The road to becoming a chaplain became a mission in persistence and patience. After meeting with the Army recruiter, doing some research and prayer over the next few months, he wanted to become a chaplain, but the "Army, however was not looking for me," said Clark.
In the fall of 2000 he started seminary at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, specifically to prepare for the chaplain ministry.
"I called the recruiting office again almost five years to the day that I had called previously and their attitude couldn't have been more different," Clark said. "Within 45 days of that phone call, I had a complete application packet and an active duty endorsement from my faith group ready to submit to the board.
Since becoming a chaplain, Clark said he thinks that a lot of Soldiers who have no interest in religion or God initially hold chaplain's at arm's length.
"I always want to meet a Soldier where he or she is, and try to address immediate needs, spiritual or otherwise," said Clark. "To this end, one of my biggest efforts is to be where the Soldier is, sharing the same food and general hardships that they endure. It's those times, hunkered down in a tent during a sandstorm or, more recently in Germany, a snowstorm, that a Soldier will come up to me and ask, 'Chaplain, got a minute?'"
Clark has the support of his commander to visit every Soldier in the Task Force, spread throughout Regional Command-North and RC-East. Being present with the Soldiers is one of his most important missions.
"I believe in being present, relational and relevant," said Clark, a native of Austin, Texas. "Sometimes, a Soldier needs the encouragement that scripture can bring; sometimes the Soldier just needs a sympathetic ear. Not a lot of Soldiers will embrace the Christian world-view like I do, but they almost always enjoy a visit from me.
"They like seeing a friendly face far out in the combat zone."
Social Sharing