Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Special Service




This last Sunday we had a Dedication service for the men in our church who are being deployed to Iraq. The three men are in the Army Stryker Brigade. In the top picture you see Sgt. Gabe DeRoo on the left and Spc. Lance Holtgeerts on the right. Also Chaplain Major Joe Riley will also be leaving. They had a special flag folding ceremony where Major Joe Riley explained what each of the folds in the flag represented. Kevin Pemental, who is in the Navy, and Mr. Narlock who is in the Air Force also took part in the ceremony. They each read a passage in the Bible about the Lord's protection. Then the wives of the men were asked to come up.

On the right is Chaplain Major Joe Riley and his wife Linda. In the middle is Sgt. Gabe DeRoo with Hannah (my best friend) and their sweet little baby Gabriel. On the left is Spc. Lance Holtgeerts and his wife Tanya. Our pastor then had all of the veterans who were at the service to come up. There were quite a few. Two of these veterans prayed prayers of special dedication and safety for the men. The men are being deployed for a year. We are so proud of them and their desire to serve their country and fight for freedom. We will be praying for them and their wives every single day.

2 comments:

mreddie said...

That is an awesome job they are going to do, but we have an awesome God to protect them. ec

Anonymous said...

My son worked with Gabe when Gabe was 17 yrs old. My son is a career counselor for the Army Reserves today and Troy notified me heart broken to hear of Gabe's passing. Troy told me how Gabe tried to tell him about Christ and how God's Word was to be lived by. My son was not a believer at that time although he did have a "sense" of God in his life. Gabe was and is very imprtant to my son for what he tried to tell him and also what Gabe has left for Troy to remember. I know Gabe is with the Lord and I pray his family and loved ones know in their hearts they will see Gabe very soon with Jesus!!! Life passes us all very quickly ...young and old...it doesn't matter...it is a blinking of the eye compared to our eternity. Thank you Gabe for your much missed mission for Christ and thank you for your courage as a soldier. May you rest in Peace!!! MLK