To God and Country
The Northern Illinois Conference United Methodist Men want to thank all those who provided financial support for the United Methodist Men Strength for Service devotional project. Because of your support, $7251.00 was raised and 1200 Strength for Service Devotionals and 216 Faith Sharing New Testaments were provided to our Military Men and Women in cooperation with the Blue Star Mothers of America.
The Northern Illinois Conference UMM teamed up with the Blue Star Mothers of America to raise funds for a mission project that provided our Military men and women (our sons and daughters) a small devotional they can carry with them and use daily.
The Strength for Service devotionals were used in World War II. One sailor held on to that book for many years and gave his tattered, underlined copy to his fifteen-year-old grandson, a Boy Scout named Evan Hunsberger.
After the events of September 11, 2001, the General Commission on United Methodist Men partnered with Evan, who had a vision to republish the devotional book as his Eagle Scout service project to honor his grandfather. Over 720,000 of these devotional were distributed to our U.S. service men and women and public servants.Evan secured permission from the original publisher and gathered new meditations from a diverse group of contemporary spiritual leaders.
The Blue Star Mothers of America and Operation Support Our Troops program provided the volunteers that pack and mail on average 500 boxes of useful products to our troops every month. The Strength for Service devotions were added to these boxes when they were mailed.
Again, thanks to everyone for your support!
Steve Nailor
Conference President UMM