Making things happen
... with integrity
Monday March 15, 2004 Volume VI Number 11
|
Ronny in Baghdad by Ken Kemp |
e are currently in search of a youth pastor. Why? Because kids need a pastor, too. Maybe more than the rest of us. The transition from childhood to adulthood is a risky passage. Parents have a limited role to play. The kids are trying to figure out who they are and what route to take and they want to make the choice on their own, thank you. Parents had their chance at influence in the earlier years – but starting in junior high and then through the high school and on to the college years, parents soon learn the need for some distance, some separation. It’s painful, but necessary.
A good youth pastor can shepherd kids through this challenging phase. It’s a tricky business, and many a youth pastor, caught in the cross-fire between the warring factions of parents and children, has been wounded. Taken some hits. Pleasing both sides is nearly impossible, and most youth leaders who give it an honest shot will end up appearing more sympathetic to either one or the other. Please the parents and the kids disappear. Attract the kids and the parents think you’re failing to uphold strict standards. Learning this dance requires considerable skill – but for those who do, the rewards are great.
Most parents like the idea that their child might find some good and worthy soul who will capture the loyalties of their teenager, challenge them to a broader understanding of the world and their place in it and affirm the values of faith and family and community and friendship and achievement and determine to make a positive contribution to the whole; someone who will help the kids find the boundaries and value the rules, all without robbing them of curiosity or imagination; someone who will listen and affirm and counsel and encourage and laugh and share the general anxieties of growing up. It’s a lot to ask – but most of us parents hope and pray that our kids will find such companions.
A
good youth pastor sets that pace. We’re hoping to locate one. Our kids need
it. Our parents want our young people to look back at their growing up years
and remember the name and the face and the shared experience of traveling side
by side with an under-shepherd.
We got an e-mail this week from a guy who had one. He’s now a college graduate and taking on serious responsibility. He’s far away from home, but the values he was taught are very much alive. His youth pastor was not the only influence in Ronny’s life – but as you will see, he certainly made a mark.
* * * * * * * *
2nd
Lt. Ronny T. Rowell is a recent graduate of the United States Naval Academy in
Annapolis, Maryland. His older brother Pete, also a graduate, went on to pilot
an F/A 18 Hornet. He served his country when President Bush approved the
attack on Baghdad. Pete answered the call, flying countless sorties in that
historic military operation - Operation Iraqi Freedom. He willingly went into
harm’s way. Now he is a naval instructor, teaching others to fly. He is a
veteran pilot with combat experience and stories to tell.
Ronny, and the rest of us for that matter, assumed he would follow his brother’s lead, and pursue naval aviation after graduation. He came close. His mother tells the story with pride – Ronny was offered a position in the training program, but after the first few weeks, which included some exhilarating flight experience, he came back and said, no thank you. “I’d love to fly, but I’d rather be on the ground where the action is, and be a leader of men.”
He chose infantry rather than aviation.
Today, 2nd Lt. Ronny T. Rowell is a Platoon Commander. Just this month, he landed in Iraq. He’s part of a wave of replacement troops, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Forces arriving to relieve Army units who have been serving in Iraq for the past year.
In the fall of 1999, Carolyn and I visited Annapolis, and Ronny, then a Youngster (second year Midshipman), welcomed us civilians, introduced us to the extraordinary campus with all its rich tradition, and hosted us at his table for lunch. We ate with his classmates – four thousand of them – an experience we will never forget, a memory we will always cherish. (I wrote about that visit in one of my first LeaderFOCUS essays – Discipline and Courtesy.)
Ronny
has always had a special place in our hearts. We’ve known him since he was a
little boy. Red hair. Full of mischief and fun. Always joking. One of those
kids as comfortable with adults as with his many friends. Wholesome. A
leader.
He led the way on mission trips and weekends at camp and at the mid-week Bible study where our kids joined him and his pals. It was a gang of kids growing up together who stay connected to this very day.
It was no surprise when he received his appointment to the Naval Academy. This is a rare honor – it made us proud just to know him and his good parents. But Ronny always had The Right Stuff.
Now Ronny has completed his education. He knew from the start that he would exchange the cost of a first rate education for several years of service to his country. He is an officer and a gentleman, now. And duty calls him to one of the world’s danger zones – Baghdad.
In his e-mail, he gives this account:
I
am currently a platoon commander for D Company of the 2nd Light
Armored Reconnaissance Battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In English,
all that means is that I am an infantry officer in the Marine Corps with a unit
that acts as the modern day cavalry. It is the greatest job. I have solid
Marines and a great company staff.
I spent a little time with Ronnie’s parents this past month. They are proud, and confident, and terrified – all at the same time.
I’ve been listening, as you have, to the politicians wrangling over our nation’s role in a Post-Saddam Iraq. For some, it seems, we should almost be embarrassed about the hard fought victory in removing the rogue dictator, the tyrant of Baghdad, from power. TIME Magazine called it the Mission NOT Accomplished, right on the cover. And in this part of the world, so long dominated by cruel despots, and a religion that despises the West, terror and danger still lurk in the shadows. Our forces continue to be targeted. While some in the media focus exclusively on the losses, there has been considerable progress. The people of Iraq have tasted freedom, and they will never again go be the same.
In spite of the criticism of some, our forces have accomplished much. At great risk. And now Ronny will lead his men onto the scene – covering a large territory, from Baghdad west to Al Fallujah – an ancient land between the mighty Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the heart of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent.
Ronny’s
platoon operates several LAV-25s (Light Armored Vehicles). The LAV-25 is
described as equipment that will “provide strategic mobility to reach and
engage the threat, tactical mobility for effective use of fire power, fire
power to defeat soft and armored targets, battlefield survivability to carry
out combat missions.”
Each amphibious vehicle weights fourteen tons and travels sixty miles per hour over land, and six miles per hour on water. It’s got a 25mm chain gun and a mounted 7.62mm machine gun. Each LAV carries a crew consisting of a driver, a gunner, a commander and up to six troops. It can cover up to four hundred miles before refueling, and costs nearly a million dollars each.
Ronny is responsible for several of them, and their crews.
He’s become a leader of men.
Sitting
with Ron’s parents and thinking about the sacrifice of so many American
families, sons and daughters, so bright, so strong, so willing to take on
responsibility, well, it fills you with a patriotism and a gratitude that’s
hard to describe. These are not statistics, these are real people.
Ronny’s dad fills in the detail. He’s proud of his sons. Ronny’s mom tears up readily these days – her youngest now will face the test, entering into harm’s way, commanding an infantry platoon, armed with live ammunition, protected by the best equipment money can buy, but vulnerable still.
If you thought dropping them off at college was tough, try sending them off to Baghdad.
So if you are a parent, and your children have reached young adulthood and you have yet to learn to pray, watch your son or daughter go to Iraq and see how quickly you’ll figure it out.
Ronny’s e-mail continued. He knew it would make the rounds in cyber-space. He asked for prayer. Here’s how he put the request:
- That I will have time each day to be in the Word and that God will continue to stretch me and develop me for His glory.
- I am the Christian Lay Leader for my company, and will be leading a Bible study for the Marines. Please pray that God will use that time to touch our lives with His Word. Pray that the Holy Spirit will work in their lives and bring them to Him.
- That God will give me wisdom to make quick effective decisions as we operate to keep my men safe and bring them back home.
What happened to that little red head, chubby cheeked boy with the ready smile full of vinegar? He grew up. Loving parents who balanced discipline and affection. Teachers. Coaches. Mentors. Counselors. And yes, a Youth Pastor. All made their mark.
So we’ve been praying for Ronny this week. He’s been deployed. He’s out there with thousands of others in uniform. And we won’t stop praying, for Ronny, his parents, and all the others who remain in harm’s way.
Will you join us?
* * * * * * * *
It’s Monday morning. You are a leader.
Probably not a platoon commander. Or a graduate of Annapolis. But you’ve got troops. They look to you for leadership. They watch what you do. Listen to what you say. They’ve got opinions about your effectiveness. They want you to be successful.
If you were to ask someone to pray for your troops, what would you request? What is your prayer for your people? What are your hopes – not just for yourself – but for them?
When I read Ronny’s e-mail, I thought about our high school students here in our town. I wondered what they will take from their high school experience into their early adult years as a foundation upon which to build a solid life. I thought about what I hope we can give them. I thought about our search for a youth pastor.
Where did Ronny learn it? I’m not sure exactly, but what is clear is that this young man is not so much concerned about himself as he his for his men.
“I’d love to fly, but I’d rather be on the ground where the action is, and be a leader of men.”
May his tribe increase.
Posted in Valley Center, California
© Copyright Kenneth E. Kemp 2004
Send FEEDBACK
Click here to SUBSCRIBE
To UNSUBSCRIBE, click the link at the bottom of your e-mail alert.