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| A NATO Role 3 MMU surgeon comforts a wounded soldier arrived for treatment in Kandahar, Afghanistan |
by Eric Anderson
WALLINGFORD (11/18/2011) -- For 279 days the Rev. Andrew Sholtes, a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps and ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, served with and for the men and women of NATO Role 3 MMU, a multi-national medical unit at the Kandahar Air Base in southern Afghanistan. In that time they ministered to over 2,000 patients with a 98% survival rate for NATO forces -- and Sholtes attended to 118 "angels," patients whose time on earth ended there in Afghanistan. On a visit to the First Congregational Church UCC in Wallingford, home of the Holy Joe's Cafe project, he described it as the most emotionally tasking, yet most rewarding work of his 18 years in military chaplaincy.
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| Chaplain Sholtes attends an "angel." |
Regardless of where they were at the time -- on the basketball court, at the table, in the shower -- the hospital staff ran when their beepers sounded. "It was overpowering, the human greatness," said Sholtes. "It made me really proud of who we are. I have never seen such dedication, such unselfish dedication to others." They treated NATO soldiers, Afghan civilians, and Taliban fighters equally. The only difference in care provided was due to the limitations in the follow-up care available at Afghan hospitals, which did not have the resources to treat severe burns or injuries. Even so, 81% of patients bound for those facilities lived.
"We in the military, wearing the uniform, volunteering or accepting the hardship of living life in harm's way," explained Sholtes, "we do that because we believe that this is the right thing to do, because we see how much goodness we can bring to those people." They pride themselves on living the maxim attributed to Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
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| Chaplain Sholtes with Holy Joe's coffee |
"I believe that the moment we stop caring about the world, evil will become so powerful that it will ruin the very way of life that we wanted to, selfishly, preserve at the cost of other countries," said Sholtes. "The only way that we are able to enjoy our liberties and our luxuries [is] by being unselfish: helping those who cannot help themselves."
Born and raised in Hungary, Sholtes came to the United States as a young man and, in the course of time, because pastor of Calvin Reformed Church in Chicago, Illinois. One Monday he received a phone call from a stranded US Navy chaplain recruiter, whose car had broken down. Sholtes gave him a ride, and a year later entered the service.
It was not the first spiritual clue he had received that would guide his vocation, but he didn't know it. As he was growing up in Budapest, his father would play the piano from time to time, and always closed by playing a particular tune. Nobody knew what it was, and Sholtes didn't hear it again until the band played it during a military review at Newport, Rhode Island. Only then did he learn it had been the Navy Hymn.
Since then, he has looked for the clues.
"What chaplains are mostly burdened with in a combat environment," Sholtes described, "is [servicepersons'] personal worth and personal relationships. When a soldier is in combat, he's very lonely in a social sense. He has stronger ties to other human beings than ever before -- with that soldier next to him. That is very powerful and very real. But that also separates them to some extent from the people who for the rest of their lives are supposed to be their loved ones, their family members, their kids, their spouses."
How You Can Help |
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Order at the Equal Exchange Interfaith Online Store.Holy Joe’s suggests that you go to the "Percolator Coffees" page and order Fellowship Blend, but they are happy to receive any coffee you choose. Under "Choose the Shipping Address," be sure to enter the following:
(first name) Holy Joe’s Under "Customer ID" please enter your church’s ID if you know it. If you don’t know it, or if you have never ordered with Equal Exchange before, please enter "IRAQ001." Under "Congregation or Organization" you may enter your church’s name or, if you are ordering individually, "UCC Individual." If your church has a tax-exempt number, we appreciate receiving it, but it’s not necessary to process the order. Another way to support Holy Joe's Cafe is to collect an offering to contribute to have Holy Joe's send coffee directly. |
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| Holy Joe's coordinator Tom Jastermsky with Andrew Sholtes |
This separation makes the power of a ministry like Holy Joe's vastly more influential than is apparent to those back home. It is simultaneously a way of bringing people to a chaplain -- to a source of help for the distressed and lonely -- and a reminder that their country cares. "I was so proud," said Sholtes. "I told the UCC Holy Joe's story to so many people."
Particularly poignant was the response of NATO partners, who received nothing of the kind from organizations at home. "They were fascinated. That was like a fairy tale to them. 'Your church does that?'"
Founded in 2006, the Holy Joe's Cafe project of the First Congregational Church UCC in Wallingford has solicited donations and coordinated delivery of tons of coffee -- millions of cups -- to military chaplains overseas. Coordinated by church member Tom Jastermsky, the ministry has expanded to include Girl Scout cookies, tea, and cocoa, all items that invite a servicemember to sit down and take advantage of a listening ear for a while. There are Holy Joe's Cafes at over 75 locations around the world.
"I truly believe that the deepest desire for every human being is acceptance," said Sholtes, minister to those disconnected from their homes and loved ones. "One of the most powerful Christian ministries we can provide to people is to provide that acceptance, [so] that people will feel that regardless of their life, regardless of their sins, regardless of their origin or culture or whatever, they are accepted."
The Rev. Andrew Sholtes has returned to his primary post at the Naval hospital in San Diego -- but like those with whom he served in Afghanistan, and from whom he still hears, he wants to go back, even to the insanity of war, to serve with those who give without complaint, and bring what good he can to those who need it most.
The Rev. Eric S. Anderson is Minister of Communications and Technology for the Connecticut Conference, UCC. Photos from Afghanistan are courtesy of Lt. Cmdr. Sholtes.
