POWs

Yesterday, I attended a POW/ MIA Recognition Ceremony in Winchester. Every year at the veterans memorial in Jim Barnett Park, local veterans assemble to remember those who were lost and never found as well as those who survived as prisoners of war in our nation's military conflicts. There were men from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and our current War on Terrorism. Many of the speakers were visibly saddened to remember their fallen brothers and those who have never returned from the battlefields of war.

I took a group of students with me--from school and church--to experience the meaning of the words "service" and "sacrifice." Few words were uttered as we left; I think they were contemplating the meaning of what they experienced in their hearts. What they did mention is that THEY didn't think they could have done what these men did. They didn't think they could last under the horrid conditions of imprisonment and war. They were unsure if they could truly ever give their lives and everything they had for another, much less a nation full of strangers. How many of us would?

You don't have to go to a battlefield or foreign land to rescue a POW--they are all around us. People are walking around our own communities trapped in their own personal prisons of addiction, a lack of self-worth and esteem, or financial ruin. Wounded, disallusioned prisoners are all around us, but are we willing to sacrifice something to help? Are we willing to take the time, financial resources, or heart that is required to pull them out of their captivity?

While I'm 100% sure that under warlike conditions I would be of little use, I KNOW that here under the warlike conditions of sin and evil, I CAN make a difference! So can you! Try to find a POW this week and do what you can to be a war hero!