GTMO Chapel

Chapel

Interior of Chapel

Since last November, we've been attending the 1100 (military time!) "Protestant Worship Service" here on the base. Many of the services are held in the main chapel, one right after another, on Sundays. Over a dozen different groups meet to worship, with the list of services ranging under the headings of Protestant, Catholic, Islam, Gospel, and Jewish. Attendance at our service ranges from about 100 to 200 people.

View of the bay from the Chapel

The military chaplains here are great folks and do an outstanding job of working with so many men and women with all kinds of different needs. Not knowing what to expect when we arrived last fall, I was gratified to learn that a women's group (PWOC - Protestant Women of the Chapel) met weekly for Bible study, so I began attending. In addition to being a wonderful source of growth, it's also been a great way to connect with more people. A men's group also meets every week -- unfortunately, it's on a night that Vince would normally be resting prior to going to work for a midnight shift. However, last week he did decide to attend and forego the extra rest.

It's been interesting (and refreshing) to be part of a church group that has so little emphasis on money -- the building, utilities, and salaries are all funded by the military. So, most of the usual financial needs that a church might have are already being met. People are still very generous with their time and financial support -- money is collected in the weekly offering. And, there is a council that meets quarterly to decide where and how to allocate the funds, mostly to small, non-profit organizations back home. Our chaplain has asked Vince and me to be a part of this council, so we'll learn more about it when we meet in a couple of weeks.

My group of kids during a photo op

Last week was Vacation Bible School with the theme being "Crocodile Dock" -- and since I have the time and supposedly the energy, I volunteered to be a crew leader. It was a lot of fun, although I was worn out by the end of the week! We would meet at the chapel at 0830 every day, and each morning was devoted to shepherding the kids (ranging from preschool to age 12) to a variety of stations, such as games, crafts, Bible storytime, etc. About 75 kids participated, with over 40 volunteers, including some young men from a guard unit back in the States who were crew leaders and who were also exhausted by the end of the week.