Army (NOTE ARMY) Chaplain Offers Baptisms, Baths

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

(*Editor's Note (NOT MINE djf) : In all of the stories that have come and
gone in recent months, this could well be the most offensive of them all.

 ''It's simple," says Evangelical Christian Army chaplain Josh Llano. "They
want water. I have it, as long as they agree to get baptized." In so many
ways, this represents the true mindset of the individuals who have pushed
this war. It is right down the line with the actions of this administration
over the past three years; recall that, when our airmen were being held in
China back in 2001, Mr. Bush was only concerned with whether or not they had
Bibles. - wrp) 

Army Chaplain Offers Baptisms, Baths
By Meg Laughlin 
Miami Herald 

Saturday 05 April 2003

CAMP BUSHMASTER, Iraq - In this dry desert world near Najaf, where the Army
V Corps combat support system sprawls across miles of scabrous dust, there's
an oasis of sorts: a 500-gallon pool of pristine, cool water.

It belongs to Army chaplain Josh Llano of Houston, who sees the water
shortage, which has kept thousands of filthy soldiers from bathing for
weeks, as an opportunity.

''It's simple. They want water. I have it, as long as they agree to get
baptized,'' he said.

And agree they do. Every day, soldiers take the plunge for the Lord and come
up clean for the first time in weeks.

''They do appear physically and spiritually cleansed,'' Llano said.

First, though, the soldiers have to go to one of Llano's hour-and-a-half
sermons in his dirt-floor tent. Then the baptism takes an hour of quoting
from the Bible. 

''Regardless of their motives,'' Llano said, ``I get the chance to take them
closer to the Lord.''

A blue-eyed 32-year-old with an abundance of energy, Llano goes out every
day to drum up grimy soldiers for his pool.

He talks to truck drivers, tank drivers, computer specialists -- anyone and
everyone. He goes out to the combat zone to the fighting soldiers and the
combat support soldiers who keep them in supplies.

''You have to be aggressive to help people find themselves in God,'' he
said. 

He calls himself a ''Southern Baptist evangelist,'' and justifies the war
and killing with a verse from the Gospel of Matthew, which he often recites:
``Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that
are God's. 

''This means we are called upon by our government to fight and that is
giving unto Caesar, as the Bible tells us,'' he said.

Earlier this week, word went out that portable showers might be installed
here soon, but Llano was undaunted.

''There is no fruit out here, and I have a stash of raisins, juice boxes and
fruit rolls to pull out,'' the chaplain said optimistically.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

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