Family, friends keep soldiers in their prayers

Their loved ones may be in Iraq, but on the first Monday of every month families of the 1140th Engineer Battalion, Missouri National Guard, are firmly linked together over the miles through prayer.

Family and friends of the 1140th gather at the Mount Auburn Christian Church for a prayer service. They find comfort in each other's presence as they come together to "pray them home," as the service has become known.

The services began when church member Barbara Randolph approached pastor Wes Wright because her son Robert had been shipped to Iraq with the 1140th. Randolph's son and three other soldiers are members of the church, and the prayers have expanded to include servicemen and women from all across Southeast Missouri.

Growing list

Wright and assistant pastor Jeremy Ferguson said the list of servicemen hovers around 70 and continues to grow.

Added to the list was Capt. Jessica Gladney, who has been in Iraq for the past three months. She is the stepdaughter of U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo.

Emerson and state Rep. Jason Crowell were guest speakers at Monday night's service, sharing in the hope that the members of the 1140th are safe and will be home soon.

Emerson said she knows the helpless feeling that comes with having someone so far from home and how comforting it can be to be among others who share the feeling and the reassurance that comes with prayer.

"God is the protector watching over them, giving them the strength to persevere, to stand against those who would harm our country," Emerson said. "Our relationship with God is the cornerstone of our democracy. With prayer we transcend the distance between us and the ones we love. Through God we are with them."

Crowell assured the family members of the 1140th that he sleeps well at night "under a blanket of freedom given to me by an American soldier."

Encouraging words from leaders at the state and national level only add to the encouragement family members of the 1140th get from each other. Carly Schneider, 14, of Cape Girardeau dedicated a special song to her sister, Christine Massey, whose husband, Jeffrey, has been in Iraq the past 7 months and will remain there until February. Christine Massey had to celebrate her first wedding anniversary alone. The support she gets from the community helps her stay upbeat.

Sharing information

"I get to see a lot of people whose families are with my husband," she said. "I get a lot of information and find out how they're doing."

She's also one of the lucky ones. She gets to talk to her husband by phone fairly often.

"He's pretty lucky," she said. "If there's a better area of Iraq to be in, he's in it."

Sgt. Andy Conklin, a member of Mount Auburn Christian Church, recently was sent home for treatment of injuries he sustained April 3 in a Humvee accident. His mother, Sandra Conklin, and his grandfather, Morris Van Winkle, both of Cape Girardeau, are hoping he's home to stay.

"I'm thankful to have him back with just a broken leg," Van Winkle said.

"I never did care for him going over," Sandra Conklin said. "It was something he said he needed to do."

Conklin has spent five years in the service and was in Bosnia for nine months before his tour of duty in Iraq. His mother said she draws much comfort from being around others whose sons and daughters are overseas.

Until the war is over and the 1140th is prayed home, their families will be in prayer at 7 p.m. the first Monday of every month at the church. The community is welcome to join them.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160