Church family offers support for young military recruit
by Jennifer Kneuss
January 3, 2011
346
Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Loar may be thousands of miles from home in his new role as a new Air Force recruit, but he is not alone. The prayers of his church family go with him.
When Dovers First Moravian church pastor John Wallace heard from Nicks mother, Judy Loar, that her son would be leaving for basic training at Lockland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, on January 3,Wallace had an idea.
We try to be sensitive to the members of the church, and keep life pretty personal here. Nick is a part of our congregation, so we wanted to give him a sendoff, and a blessing. That is what you do as a church congregation, explained Wallace, who organized a special service on December 26 for Nick.
I contacted our veterans who were already in our congregation, and asked them to make a special effort to be there the day after Christmas. I told them, here we have a young man, and we are sending him off to serve his country. We would like the veterans to encircle him, and to lay hands on him and ask them to give a blessing.
One of those veterans was Bill Gerber, a WWII veteran who is now 92 years old. Wallace asked Gerber to lead the prayer for Nick.
Wallace noted that having Gerber participate was special. The irony, or serendipity of it, is that Bill was in the service as a mechanic, which is what Nick is going into the Air Force for. So there was a three generations removed blessing. Bill still fits in his WWII uniform, and said that he would be honored to be part of the sendoff.
There were a lot of tears flowing that day. You cant script everything. But at the end, the 14-15 guys, one after the other, took the time to spend a few moments with Nick, to encourage him, added the pastor.
Bill said a blessing for Nick and for all those who are in the military or who have died while in the military. It was so touching that so many were in tears, said Judy Lour. We were in a domestic violence situation, but we got away from that several years ago. It has been extremely hard, but Nick and I are very close as a result. We know what it is like to be without, and to be alone. But the church was always there. Considering Nick's background, without a father, the church has been like many "fathers" to him. They were there for him through the divorce, baptism, and now this. There were men there who kind of took Nick under their wing. They always took an interest in him, because they knew he didnt have a dad. It makes me feel better. It is a big weight to have to be a mom and a dad.
The guys at the church are really great guys. That is one of the reasons I like going every Sunday, stated Nick. It felt comforting that the older veterans told me I was going to be all right, and that everything was going to be ok as I went through basic training. Hearing someone say that I am going to make it through just fine helps.
Mom will be crying and really sad about me going off to the military, but she knows it is for the best, said the young man. My faith in God is a really big part of my life. I know He is there, He exists, and there are things that happened that I know I wouldnt have made it through if it wasnt for God. As I go into he military, that is going to be part of what keeps me going.
For Nicks mother, although it is hard to see her only son go off to the military, she knows she now has a solid family as support. The church is our family, she stated earnestly. I could never give that up.
