As the COVID-19 pandemic winds down, ACCTS is planning a number of ministry initiatives that involve meeting together in person.
The first of these is training for international chaplains to be held in San Antonio in September. This two week course, postponed twice during the pandemic, provides training for those serving as, or planning to serve as chaplains to the uniformed services in their nations. The program is taught by retired chaplains, and covers the precepts of chaplaincy, including the call to chaplaincy, the chaplain as a staff officer, chaplain/commander relationships, ethics, stress management, marriage, deployment, pluralism, and suicide. This year's 12 candidates are from 9 countries. Pray that God will bless the participants, and sort out all the travel arrangements.
In early October, the ACCTS Board and Staff will meet in person for the first time in two years at the Officer's Christian Fellowship conference center in White Sulphur Springs, PA. These meetings afford the board an opportunity to exercise its fiduciary responsibilities in a relaxed setting, and have the opportunity to meet staff members and hear their reports on how ministry continued online during the COVID crisis. The staff always enjoys this annual event which offers fellowship, prayer, and learning about our various ministries. Since 2022 marks 50 years of ACCTS ministry to the uniformed services of the world, some of this year's gathering will be devoted to planning for that auspicious event. Pray for both the the Board and the staff as they meet to achieve these purposes.
In mid-October, plans are underway for the initial AMCF Interaction planned for a conference center in Croatia. Until 2008, ACCTS Interaction brought military Christian leaders to the US for two weeks of training and fellowship. That program produced 12 of the current 15 AMCF leaders. The Lord has been leading us to work with our ministry partners in Europe and Korea to see how a similar program might be developed to be reproducible and exportable and provide a continuing cadre of mature spiritual leaders for the AMCF. Pray for those who will participate in the initiative, and that God will use them to His purposes within the AMCF.
In late October, plans are underway for a live Pray and Plan session in Brazil to begin making detailed plans for the AMCF World Conference to be held there in 2024. Ask God to help Brazil recover from the ravages of the pandemic, which has it them particularly hard, and to bless those who are faithfully working to make the 2024 event a reality.
