04 Sep Jim Ellifritt Prepares for Afghanistan

Jim Ellifritt, the Northwest Conference superintendent, is a major in the National Guard. He reports that beginning in mid-October, he will be ordered to active duty for language training in Dari, the majority language for Afghanistan. He writes:

“Our unit will be officially activated on November 30 and sent to Fort Bragg, N. C., and certified for deployment. We will arrive in Afghanistan around the first week of January. I will be in a town called Bagram. The deployment is schedule for 12 months beginning November 30. Prayerfully it will only be 12 months in country.”

Jim says he’s grateful that his children are older–Kori is 15, Stacy 18, and Jim 23. “I am cautiously excited about opportunities of ministry to soldiers and civilians. All of this, like everything else with the military, is subject to change. It will be more real to me when I finally step onto the tarmac in Bagram.”