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| Main Gate at Mountain Home AFB |
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| Liberty Chapel at Mountain Home AFB |
Christian Ministries at Mountain Home AFB connected with the
En Gedi Hospitality House
The ministry here at Mountain Home is almost entirely
focused on the military community although Eric and Ed meet weekly with local
Christian businessmen for mutual encouragement and fellowship. Currently the base has four evangelical
Protestant chaplains. Ed and Suzie have
access to the base through Ed’s membership in the Air National Guard while Eric
and Janet have been given semi-annual passes giving them access to the base
chapel facilities. We are all
integrated into the base chapel community which operates in a modular fashion based on interest
groups much as civilian churches do.
There is a Sunday morning worship congregation called the Traditional
congregation which presently follows a liturgical pattern of worship with a distinctly evangelical flavor. There is a women’s ministry known as
PWOC (Protestant Women off the Chapel), and a student ministry for Junior and
Senior High called PYOC (Protestant Youth of the Chapel. There is also an AWANA program and a
children’s Sunday school program. Finally,
En Gedi Hospitality House is an adjunct off-base ministry.
The chaplains have a small staff of assistants (both
civilian and enlisted) that handle the military's required administrative work but, by design, very little of
the actual ministry. This is done almost
entirely by the chaplains and many volunteers.
We attend the chapel worship services where
we are afforded the opportunity to meet, fellowship with, and invite many
individuals to more in-depth activities.
These services are heavy on before and after fellowship with an emphasis
on food and conversation. We frequently
provide potluck dishes for these.
Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) has a Thursday
morning study that Janet and others are responsible for leading. Janet also leads a Bible study class on
Thursday. She is also on the board as the programs
coordinator. Eric has been volunteering to help watch the kids during this time. PWOC
extends its various ministries through outreach and retreats.
AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed) serves about 60
military kids every Sunday afternoon.
A volunteer couple leads this program.
A number of airmen enjoy volunteering to hear the children
say their memory verses and to ride herd on the games.
PYOC (Protestant Youth of the Chapel) also meets on Sunday
afternoon and is led by several experienced volunteer couples.
En Gedi Hospitality House is the off-base ministry that
meets regularly at the home of Ed and Suzie Buri. Their home church sent in a team of builders
who added on a large meeting room in place of what used to be the back yard
swimming pool! They host a Friday Night supper and
Bible Study led by Eric. Janet and Suzie handle most of the meal preparation. En Gedi also sponsors frequent outings and
special seasonal events. Ed and I co-host a Men's Bible study and accountability group on Wednesday nights at the Thimell House. We are currently studying the Attributes of God and will be soon starting the very successful and highly acclaimed The Quest for Authentic Manhood series with Dr. Robert Lewis.
Janet also hosts a women's crafting group called Knit-wits where they talk about life while they ply their creative skills.
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