PWOC

Many of my family and friends have been asking me what's this thing called PWOC that I spend a lot of time investing in and talking about. So I thought it was about time I share a little bit about it and why I'm so passionate about serving. Well,the first thing you should know,it's not just another military acronym, it's actually a ministry... Let me first explain a little about the Base chapel for those civilians out there. The chapel is the church on base/post which caters to all religions. The chaplains are basically in place for military member's freedom of religion. I know what you're already thinking...What?...The Giles at the Base Chapel... Chapels are notorious for watered down messages... You know-The whole church and state thing... Believe me this isn't the norm for us, even though on more than one occasion, we've been told we teach way too much love and grace, and not enough law... What? Isn't that what Jesus' ministry was all about?... Anyways that's a whole other blog.

In our 18 years in the military this is the first time we've attended the Chapel. Usually we find a church home off base in which we choose to get involved. We've found that Aviano, Italy is a bit unique. There's just not that many solid choices off base. We tried all the options, but didn't feel God leading us toward any of them. Hmmm.... So Tom and I prayed and decided that God must be calling us to work alongside the chaplains and military community. So here we are...At the Base Chapel...And let me tell you...This experience has been anything but watered down.

The first thing you need to know about the Base Chapel is the amount of turn-over we're constantly dealing with. Unlike most state-side churches we tend to gain or lose chaplains(pastors) and members of our congregation very frequently. Not just two or three, but sometimes half of the church. We also have a never ending list of people deployed somewhere at any given time. So our numbers can be very erratic. We've been here 2 years and have had 3 different chaplains in our church service alone, which makes it very hard to develop any sort of continuity. The fear of change and the unknown scares many people away. It's like building a church with an uninterviewed pastor, from the ground up, every year or so. But that's another day and another blog...

The Protestant side of the Chapel has three different services: Liturgical, Gospel, and Contemporary. Our family attends the Contemporary service. PWOC is the Protestant Women of the Chapel. The chapel also has CWOC which is the Catholic Women of the Chapel. Basically PWOC is a Christian Women's Ministry based and governed out of the chapel and totally funded by chapel tithes... which means no government money is used or given to us. Our budget is not subsidized by any means... Our members consist of all three services as well as many ladies attending churches off base. Most of you know my love and passion for women's ministry. It's so important for all of us to continually seek growth in our spiritual walk. Without growth we become stagnant or dry and it's very hard to share the "Good News" when we don't know what it is, or have any to share. Often for me just being held accountable and connecting with other Christian women has been exactly what I needed to get me through the tough seasons in my life. It has also been the very thing that's kept me grounded in God's Word and so faithful to His service all these years. A good women's ministry is even more important oversees where dynamic churches are not plentiful, husbands can be deployed for long periods of time, and family is so far away.

I became a member of PWOC about 2 years ago when I first started going to the Chapel. Tom was deployed for 81/2 months and I had to set out on my own. I attended one semester of Bible study and was then asked to lead a study.... Then I was asked to be on the Board as Publicity Chairman... Then I was nominated as Vice President/Programs... And two months ago I became the President of PWOC...

Within this time period I have been so blessed and amazed at all that God has done. I wasn't exactly sure I wanted all the responsibility at first, and fought it, but God knew better. What began as a hour and a half of weekly commitment in my life has now turned into countless hours of joy! I'm so thankful for each and every lady and all the gifts they bring to the table. I have an amazing board that blows me away every week. I'm especially thankful for my friend Kat, who has been my trusted confidant and one of my biggest fans through this whole process. She recently moved to the "Redneck Riviera"and I miss her dearly. And then there's Linda who has been an amazing friend and spiritual powerhouse. She's always ready with a listening ear and supplies me with my daily dose of love, support, and encouragement! Thanks ladies for who you are and what you do!

God has been so good to PWOC, despite our base and community going through our own dose of tragedies. We've grown from just a handful of ladies to about 50-60 ladies attending on a regular basis... Praise God!... Just today we had to scramble to add extra tables to our meeting room and now all our studies are currently full. We have 5 studies with 12 ladies in each and are in the process of adding another study.... 60 ladies coming consistently... Truly, Truly Amazing.... Especially when you're aware of all the tragedy, obstacles, and challenges we've overcome.

Like most things with new growth brings growing pains, obstacles, and challenges. We had to recently expand our child care to two locations, order another Bible study for our new ladies, and are currently working on a way to gain more space with less money... Oh the joys of ministry on a military base and budget... But just this week I was blessed and encouraged by one of the new ladies who has been attending. She shared two scriptures with me ...

"In everything that he undertook in the service of God's temple, and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God, and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered" 2Chronicles 31:21

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33

She then shared with me two things she saw which were clearly evident about our chapter of PWOC :

God's work and hands are all over it's leaders. and this is not your typical military spouses group, but one that's doing God's work, seeking his kingdom, and spreading the"Good News".

WoW!!! Thank you God!!! Comments like that are like mana from heaven... They tend to put everything into perspective and make it all worth the various trials and challenges... Thank you Jennifer... You blessed me more than you know...

So that's PWOC .... It's what I do in my spare time when I'm not attending to my husband, children, or wifely Squadron duties... Make sure you check it out if your stationed at any Base or Post...I know it will be worth every bit of your time and more...


"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy". Psalm 126:3