KMTB chapel

Photo By Maj. Anthony Buchanan | KIRKUSH, Iraq (Aug. 30, 2006) -- Army Reserve Soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Donald Musser sings during a Protestant worship service held at the base's conference room. He hails from Mount Pisgah, N.C., and helps Iraqi Army Soldiers in northern Iraq. (Photo by Spc. Lee Elder, 133d Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)  

09.06.2006

Story by Staff Sgt. Miles Elder 

133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

by Spc. Lee Elder
133rd MPAD

KIRKUSH, Iraq (August 30, 2006) – Using an MP3 player wired to a couple of small speakers, Chaplain (Capt.) Lenny Siems starts the music and leads a small group in singing a praise song.

Slowly, Soldiers and civilians alike enter the second-floor conference room at Kirkush Military Training Base which becomes a makeshift chapel. The chaplain is on post again and it's time for church.

Siems, who serves as chaplain for the 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, Task Force Band of Brothers, is on the road again. While he is based at Forward Operating Base Warhorse, he ministers to his Soldiers who scattered on six different base camps in northern Iraq.

KMTB, once known as FOB Caldwell, has no full-time chaplain of its own. Soldiers here rely on lay leaders and chaplain visits for their religious support.

"It gives me great joy," Siems said. "The Soldiers here don't always have access to a chaplain.

"In some ways, I have a higher attendance here than at the other FOBs."

Among those on hand this evening is Sgt. 1st Class Donald Musser, an Army Reserve Soldier serving here with the Coalition Military Assistance Transition Team. Musser said he always tries to make services when they are held.

"It lifts my spirits," Musser said. "It makes me feel better about myself.

"It's the perfect ending to a perfect day."

Musser hails from Mount Pisgah, N.C., and attends the Maranatha Baptist Church in nearby Hendersonville. He said the services in Iraq make him feel closer to his church family halfway across the world.

"It gives me the feeling that I am back home worshipping," Musser said.

Siems, 41, opens the service with a reading from Psalms 100. He admonishes those in attendance to be a good example to those who serve with and to the Iraqi people.

"It's a powerful witness to have so many Christians in the heart of a Muslim land," Siems said. "As you go out, I hope the love of God shines through to the Iraqi people."

After a prayer and more singing, Siems delivers a sermon from the second chapter of 2 Timothy. He focuses on the third and fourth verses where the Apostle Paul urges his understudy to endure hardship "like a good Soldier of Christ Jesus."

Besides his conducting services, Siems also spends much of his time on the road counseling and praying with Soldiers. It's what he most likes about being a chaplain.

"It's great to be able to visit the Soldiers and see them smile when they see their chaplain is there for them," Siems said. "It's good to be able to share in their hardships with them."

Siems, a Saegertown, Pa., native, is a chaplain serving with the Presbyterian Church in America, an Atlanta-based conservative, evangelical denomination. He is a graduate of Briarcrest Bible College out of Saskatchewan, Canada, and later attended Reformed Seminary in Jackson, Miss. A former school teacher who first joined the military when he was 36 years old, he has been a chaplain for 18 months.

"I'm here to show Soldiers that there is more to life than guard duty and help them see things from a bigger perspective," Siems said. "I share the love of Christ with them in a practical way."

Besides his normal pastoral duties, Siems tries to be creative. He said he's even hosted a Hawaiian luau to raise his flock's spirits.

"I like to do things for Soldiers to bring them joy wherever the Army has placed them," Siems said.

• Date Taken: 09.06.2006
• Date Posted: 09.06.2006 11:40
• Story ID: 7632