WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--The battlefields of Iraq have become more of a mission field than Capt. Eddie Cook ever imagined.
Opportunities to share God's grace have uplifted even this firm believer -- who serves as chaplain and a master-rated parachutist in the 3rd Battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division's 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment -- and helped him bring many fellow soldiers to Christ.
When 80 mph winds threatened to topple his battalion one day, his fellow soldiers shouted out to him to pray. Standing in the middle of the besieged tent, Cook prayed silently for the sandstorm to stop. When the howling winds died abruptly, he was not surprised at God's grace.
He suddenly realized that though his previous silent prayers had been answered, God was waiting for him to speak up.
"I praised God for it, but I felt Him ask me why I did not profess my prayer aloud so that others could see Him work," said Cook, a 2002 graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. "I remembered Christ and His rebuking of the storm and felt that was of 'biblical proportion' and I was skeptical to do that before all.
"But we must not question our faith. When we are distressed in the desert, God answers [both physically and spiritually]. God instilled in me that we are in exceptional times and He will work in exceptional ways."
God subsequently gave Cook another chance.
"We had left the desert and were back at our base camp in tents," he recounted. "Another big windstorm hit us and our 50-man tents (100 by 40 feet) were about to blow away. We had been awakened in the night by metal poles snapping into and thrashing about around our heads. Lights were crashing around us and the nine 15-foot poles were wobbling in the middle of the centerline of our tent. A man got on each pole to hold down the tent and someone yelled, 'Chaplain, pray for us!'
"I had a flashback to the desert and what God had told me then. I placed my faith in Him and left my pole, stood in the middle of the tent and called upon the name of Jesus to calm the winds. There was a brief cessation of the wind and my spirit leapt for joy.
"Then I wondered if the storm had completely ceased. The men looked at me in amazement.... That was the last of the tremendous gusts that were knocking even huge soldiers to the floor. He made His name real to all those who witnessed this."
As the bombs and missiles light up the skies in Iraq, Cook has dealt with breaking down barriers to the spread of the Gospel. Cook, who was an infantry officer before God called him into the chaplaincy, said the channels to spread the Gospel are wide open, but there were times when they were threatened. Still, before his battalion headed into Iraq from Kuwait, he baptized troops in the icy waters of the Persian Gulf.
"God used this as a time to grow me when I thought our opportunity for ministry was going to be thwarted" in light of military policy against aggressive evangelism, Cook said. "I have been given the approval to pray in Jesus' name in all forums without qualification, whether in a Christian service or in a pluralistic group. I am afforded unfettered freedom to spread the Gospel, and it is even encouraged.
"These are trying times and the men need Jesus. Even the ones that are not ready to accept Him know that they need Him. I have been personally thanked by the majority of the colonels here for my evangelical fervor and commitment to spread the Gospel. God took care of the antagonists. God has promised that, 'His Word will not return to Him void, it will accomplish that which it was sent.'"
Spc. Nick Valaitis, a member of Cook's battalion, told The Fayetteville Observer newspaper, "In the time we're in, it's definitely the reassurance I need. It takes a lot off you to know that God's on your side."
Cook and his wife, Jennifer, are based at Fort Bragg, near Fayetteville, N.C. They're active in the First Assembly of God church in Raleigh, which has provided support for Jennifer as she awaits the birth of the couple's first child any day.
