Published: April 18, 2006
Palm Sunday Service in Iraq
Spc. Lee Elder, 133rd MPAD
BAQUBAH, Iraq - Gospel Service goers got Holy Week off to a rousing start today with a Palm Sunday service that featured singing, testimonies and a stirring sermon.
BAQUBAH, Iraq - Pfc. Erica Greene, Company C, 64th Brigade Support Battalion, (left) and Staff Sgt. Kimberly Austin, Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 3rd Special Troops Battalion, make crosses out of palms at Forward Operating Base Warhorse. Both took part in Palm Sunday services.
Photo by: Spc. Lee Elder, 133rd MPAD |
The service also featured palms cut from local trees. The palms signify those which were laid in Christ's path as he rode a donkey into Jerusalem just week before his crucifixion.
"This is Holy Week, folks," said Chaplain (Maj.) James Hartz. "This is when we remember what God went through and what Jesus did for us."
Hartz, a chaplain endorsed by the Southern Baptist Convention, is a Massachusetts native who also serves as brigade chaplain for the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team. The Fort Carson, Colorado-based brigade is serving in northern Iraq as part of Task Force Band of Brothers.
Hartz challenged his congregation to partake in as many of the observances of Christ's death and resurrection as they could this week. He called the events surrounding Easter "the centerpiece of Christian theology" in a sermon from the Gospel of Luke's 19th chapter.
"We're invited this week to journey with Jesus," Hartz said. "We're invited to experience the passion of Christ."
The service featured upbeat performances by members of the chapel's gospel choir. Many of the choir members testified before their fellow Soldiers and civilians who attend the service about how their faith had helped them endure the many challenges they meet each day while serving in Iraq.
Pfc. Erica Sanders, Company C, 64th Brigade Support Battalion, said she was thankful that she had been able to become nearly debt free while she was serving here.
After the service, Sanders and Staff Sgt. Kimberly Austin, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Special Troops Battalion, used the palm leaves to make crosses. Audience members took the palm leaves as reminders of the day's significance in the life of Christ and his followers.
"Palm Sunday signifies the life that Christ gave for us," said Austin, a Detroit native. "He gave his life for a sin-seek world."
Anthony D Buchanan
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