Deaconess Carolyn Brinkley works here on campus, in a small windowless office from which, she explains with a smile, she gets to serve as a deaconess all over the world. She works as Military Project Coordinator, answering requests from chaplains and putting together projects to support our servicemen and women. “I am truly blessed,” Deaconess Brinkley said, speaking of all the support she receives from individuals, schools, churches, and other organizations across the country that fund these projects. “I have never had to turn down any requests that have come in.”
One of the ongoing projects is body and soul care packages, which include notes of encouragement. Yesterday after chapel, students, faculty, and staff signed these notes during coffee hour. They will go to a number of LCMS chaplains and those servicemen and women whom Deaconess Brinkley has been specifically asked to keep in mind. In the Fall Quarter at least one of these servicemen was a near-seminarian who had to put off his theological training for deployment; this quarter some of these letters will go to the brothers of current students.
To learn more about the Military Project and how you can help, go to www.ctsfw.edu/MilitaryProject.