USA (MNN) ― Veteran's Day is an annual United States holiday honoring military veterans.
Faith Comes By Hearing is observing it this year with a unique venture. Since Veteran's Day falls on 11-11-11, the ministry decided to launch a Military Biblestick project as a way for Americans to support soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines with the Word of God in audio.
Jon Wilke, a military veteran and spokesman for the ministry's project, says, "I can't think of a more honorable cause than to help those who volunteered to sacrifice their time away from their families, and even their lives, by providing the Word of God in a form that they can use and receive."
Faith Comes By Hearing has freely given more than 143,000 BibleSticks to requesting chaplains since 2008. And they need help keeping up, says Wilke. "Demand has really been escalating. We at Faith Comes By Hearing receive about 2000 requests in a single week from chaplains. It doesn't stop. It's been going on for four years. Every year the demand has doubled from the year before."
The pocket-sized, digital audio device contains a word-for-word dramatized version of the New Testament. Chaplains make them available to troops, and, Wilke notes, "The chaplains tell us that the military BibleSticks are the most requested items that they've ever seen. There's a spiritual hunger in our military right now that's being fulfilled by the Word of God."
That's due, in part, to the nature of the job a soldier has. Many come face-to-face with their mortality in the war zones. Wilke says, "We're talking about providing the Word of God in a format that they're going to use when they have some of the most difficult and pressing questions that they face in life. 'What's going to happen to me when I die?' 'What happened to my friend?' 'Who is Jesus?' And, 'Is this Bible real?' Soldiers have all of these spiritual questions that come along when they go on these deployments and face some of these difficult situations."
This Friday, more than 200 Christian radio stations will participate in letting their listeners know about the Military BibleStick and the great demand for it by chaplains and troops. "We've asked Christian radio stations across the country to join Faith Comes By Hearing to make sure that we can fulfill this backorder that we have. There are troops that are waiting months, sometimes, to get the BibleSticks once they ask their chaplain."
The impact is far-reaching. Wilke explains that "for a gift of $25, listeners provide a BibleStick, a disc for people in the unit, and (one) for the people at home."
On the TV side, Faith Comes By Hearing has produced a broadcast-quality, half-hour special that details the project and talks about how this small audio device is making a big impact on this generation of soldiers. More than 30 stations have agreed to air the program on Veterans Day or over the holiday weekend.
Continuing the ministry tradition of working closely with churches nationwide, FCBH reports that over 900 churches will be presenting the Military BibleStick project to their congregations throughout the month of November.
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