Day of Prayer for the British Armed Services. Part 2 of 2. By Uncle Monty.

Day of Prayer for the British Armed Services.

Story By Uncle Monty.

Photos By Alex Albion.

Part 2 of 2.
~~~

Give me a “D” for “Day.” Give me one little

“o” for “of.” Give me a proud “P” for “Prayer.”

Then a small “f” for “for.” And, not to forget

the lower case “t” for “the.” Yes, also now a

big “B” for all thingz “British.” Give me then

a strong “A” for “Armed.” Followed by a

soft “S” for “Services.”

~~~

In short such means - “DOPFTBAS.” Ah, or

yes, yes, now in full – "Day of Prayer for the

British Armed Services.” Quite a mouthful of

words really, but even more so it was a good

mouthful of good prayers of the day at Eng-

land's St. Clement Danes for all our patriotic

and dedicated boyz and girlz who are serving

the British people as best they can at war hot

spots like Iraq and Afghanistan, and else-

where, day in and day out.

Bravo … then to them all ...

~~~

RAF Rev'd Dave Richardson.

He spoke of his recent 7-day visit

to Iraq with slides of his showing

some of the army platoons he met

and of military life there. There was

nothing shy about this young RAF

clergyman, I must say ...

~~~

Some 20.000 young men and women

join the British Armed Services in

the course of a regular year. Although

it may sound corny to some, they need

all our prayers and open support as they

face grave danger and true hardship in

their military tasks to bring about peace

and the cessation of internal civil,

religious and/or nationalistic conflict.

War always brings out both the best

and the worst in people. Hopefully, the

ideal presence of the British military is to

bring about the best and not the worst

in such people or in ourselves.
~~~
Navy Commodore Andrew McFarlane.

He's been assigned, I guess, to nuclear

subs from what I could discern from

the commodore's rather cryptic, but

very friendly, British words to me.

~~~

At the Order of Service at the Royal

Air Force's St. Clement Danes, it was

good to hear directly from Maj. General

Roddy Porter, MBE, speaking has he did,

to us from his British Command at the

heart of Iraq's Baghdad. He brought

good news saying that things have im-

proved somewhat in the past year or

so due to the determined efforts of the

coalition forces there although still much

needs to be done to secure some kind of

lasting peace in Iraq. What impressed me

the most was General Porter's acclaim of

Christian faith and his belief in the value

of prayer for all our serving boyz and

girlz at wherever they may be in the

British military. As I listened to the

British general that he is, I couldn't im-

agine say an American general doing

the same by publicly declaring his

religious faith directly from Baghdad

like our own general did. I'm sure such

would cause a public furore in America

should such an American general dare

speak of his faith in such an open manner

has did Britain's good General Porter.

Bless him good, I do declare ...
~~~

Another Good Old Royal Navy Chaplain.

~~~
Standing outside in front of the

Anglican door at St. Clement Danes was

72 year-old British (Ret'd) Capt. Martin

Alymer-Hall, B.Sc. He was taking a peck

of fresh air before returning to the prayer

day service. He told me he'd served in

West Africa and the Cameroon. He

now lives at Winchester, I believe. A
perfect gentleman, too. We also had a

lovely light lunch provided to us by the

lay volunteers of St. Clement Danes

at downstairs in its very Old Crypt.

~~~

Royal Navy Commemoration Symbol of 1957 at

St. Clement Danes, which was re-consecrated

with the presence in 1958 of then the young

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. Known

also as the "Oranges and Lemons," the church

is marking the 50th anniversary of its re-

consecration this year of 2oo8. There is also

The Roll of Honour that commemorates

over 19.000 American airmen who died on

active service from wartime Great Britain.

Indeed, "Least We Not Forget Them."
~~~

Among the other servicemen and woman

participating in the Day of Prayer for the

British Armed Services, were Col. Paul Eaton,

Capt. Anna Coffin, Col. Jos McCabe, OBE;

RAF Wing Cammander Rev'd Mike Elliott,

Lance Cpl. Dan Ratu, WO Andy Collings,

and Major Simon Maggs, who was the only

individual to decline being photographed

saying he was "abit camera shy." Really?

He had a suspicious mind, I frankly think.
~~~

Praying for Christians in the world's armed

forces, the Association of Military Christian

Fellowships continues to grow in purpose and

strength. So also does the Armed Forces

Christian Union (AFCU) that has provided

for the spiritual wellbeing of the British

Army since 1851. Its current president is

Maj. General Roddy Porter, MBE. who we

heard earlier from out of Iraq's Baghdad.

The Naval Military and Air Force Bible

Society (NM+AFBS) is an umbrella organ-

isation that includes - Apostleship of the

Sea, The Mission to Military Garrisons,

The Mission to Seafarers, Soldiers and

Airmen's Scripture Readers Association,

Army Cadet Force, Mechant Navy -

among its other military charities. They

were well represented at The Day of

Prayer for the British Armed Services.
~~~

Thus faithfully, Uncle Monty.

+Eve of Remembrance Sunday, 2oo8.
~~~

The above caption picture here of mine

for Part Two shows British General Richard

Dannatt, KCB, CBE, MC, ADC, Chief of the

General Staff, standing second from the right

with some of his good soldiers at The Day

of Prayer for the British Armed Services. I

thank the good general and his fine soldiers

for permitting me to freely photograph

them. It was my pleasure, too.

Thanks ever so much ...

~~~