Chaplain taking ministry to Iraq

[Key Guy]

From the Plainfield Sun online, (Chicago suburb, Illinois)

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/plainfieldsun/news/1578674,4_1_JO18_CHAPLAIN_S1.article

Quote:

As a hospital chaplain, Garry Losey of Plainfield ministers to patients and their families in their time of need. Soon he will set off on a one-year stint to serve another group in need--U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq.

A U.S. Army Reservist, Losey is being deployed to the Middle East, where he will have regional oversight of chaplains serving the area.

Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital will host a prayer service and reception May 21, Losey's last day as manager of pastoral care before he reports for duty. Before going overseas, Losey will undergo training at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and Fort Hood in Texas.

In the Middle East, he will support the troops of the 90th sustainment brigade, based near Little Rock, Ark. He will be based at Joint Base Balad in Northern Iraq, located about 40 miles north of Bagdad. The base is one of the largest American military bases in Iraq and is shared by the Army and Air Force; the Army side is known as Camp Anaconda. Losey, who holds the rank of major, said he's looking forward to serving the troops.

"I certainly appreciate working in crisis situations, and I can't think of a more crisis situation than working with troops in a war zone," said Losey, who joined the Army in 1988 and the Reserves in 1999.

The deployment will be Losey's first to Iraq. He has served as a student missionary in Korea, ministered as a civilian in California, Hawaii and Virginia, and served as an Army chaplain in Colorado, Texas, Korea and Germany.

Although both involve meeting people's spiritual needs, Losey said military ministry differs from hospital ministry in that the biggest issues for soldiers relate to their personal life, not their health.

"It's more of a counseling ministry, dealing with personal and family needs," he said. "Being in the military, you're always moving, always going somewhere different."

A second-generation Seventh-day Adventist pastor with more than 30 years of ministry experience, Losey previously worked as manager of pastoral care at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital before joining Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital last year. He has worked for Adventist Midwest Health for four years.

Losey, 55, is married to Yvonne, who is director of the Special Additions Birth Centre at Adventist GlenOaks Hospital. The couple has two children and two grandchildren and will celebrate their 32nd wedding anniversary this fall.

(photo online)

[phkrause]

That's great. Will pray that all goes well.

pk