How many US troops accepted Jesus as their personal Savior while
fighting in Afghanistan?

Dear Iluvbcb,

Thank you for your inquiry!

It is impossible to know the exact number of U.S. troops that have accepted 
Jesus as their personal Savior while fighting in Afghanistan because no such 
official record are kept for this information.

However, there are many Christian Military organizations, fellowships and 
churches located on U.S. bases all around the world, Afghanistan included.
Just as we have religious freedom when in the U.S., American troops over-seas 
also have free exercise of any religions wherever they are stationed.  Excerpts 
from the Department of Defense Directive DODD-1300.17, dated 1988-FEB-03 ensure 
that troops maintain the full rights and privileges of accepting Jesus Christ 
as Savior, should they choose to do so.  Too see the excerpts on religious 
freedom visit:
Accommodation of religious practices within the U.S. Military
http://www.religioustolerance.org/mili_rel.htm
The full text can be obtained from the departments website by searching the DOD 
Directives for the term "religion":
http://www.dtic.dla.mil/adm/

Here are some links to Christian Military outreaches if you'd like to help 
spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our U.S. troops:
Christian Military Fellowship
http://www.cmfhq.org/
Christian Military Fellowship
http://members.iquest.net/~c_m_f/
"Encouraging members of the United States military and their families to love 
and serve Jesus Christ by praying with them, linking them with fellow 
Christians, and providing training and resources."
Charitable choices – Christian Military Fellowship
http://www.charitablechoices.org/cmfhq/

Because the overall U.S. population is primarily Protestant, there is a high 
probability that many U.S. troops have already accepted Christ as Savior.  For 
statistical information on how many Americans attend church regularly, visit:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_rate.htm
However, note that just because you eat a cheeseburger doesn't make you 
McDonalds, likewise because someone goes to church doesn't mean they've 
actually accepted Christ as their personal Savior.  The only real way to know 
how many US troops have accepted Christ as their Savior while fighting in 
Afghanistan would be to take a poll of the military that is currently fighting 
in Afghanistan asking that very question.

Of personal note I would even say that the only real way to know how many U.S. 
troops have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior would be to know the 
hearts of each U.S. individual fighting in Afghanistan, which is something we 
will not know until Christ returns.

Thank you and have a wonderful day!

Best Regards,

Skis4jc

---

Clarification of Answer by skis4jc-ga on 23 Apr 2002 10:31 PDT

Search terms used:
Christian missionaries in Afghanistan
U.S. troops and Christianity
U.S. troops and Jesus
Christians in the Military

Good quick research.  Like the personal note at the end.

Hello There!

This is a hard question to answer at this time, since the U.S. Forces
are still fighting in Afghanistan and your question is in the past
tense.    I don't know
if any statistical reports of any kind will be published until the
action of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan is over.

Hope this helps!

>Because the overall U.S. population is primarily Protestant, there is
a high
>probability that many U.S. troops have already accepted Christ as
Savior.

Without trying to turn this into anything like a religious war, let me
just try to add a clarifying note or two here

1) Baptists are not protestants, and there are about 23 million
'adherents' of the variously identified Baptist organizations and
denominations.  About 53 million Catholic adherents reside in the USA,
and about 48 million protestants other than Baptists.  Then there are
other non-Catholic, non-Protestant groups like Eastern Orthodox, Greek
Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Christian Scientists, Mormons, and a whole
host of other such.

I'll grant that you probably meant 'non-Catholic' when you wrote what
you did about Protestants.  But to many, at least in Baptist circles,
it is a point worthy of emphasis -- Baptists were never part of the
Catholic church (just as, for example, eastern Orthodox weren't) and
so never protested or split from it.

2) Perhaps you are using the phrase 'many have accepted Christ as
Savior' in the general sense along the lines of 'having said some
words to that effect' or 'having prayed a prayer' or whatever.  If so,
there may be a grain of truth in what you have said.  But if you mean
something more along the lines of 'are really, actually converted to
Christ; have actually trusted Jesus for forgiveness of sins and are
regenerated (aka born again); are truly saved, etc.  If you mean that,
I would submit that there is simply little or no chance that very many
are really saved, whatever they may themselves think of their
situation.

Sorry, I don't mean this to be unfairly provocative, and so if you'd
like me to explain this further at a later time, I will, but I've run
out of time at present!

Some Baptists claim that there is an unbroken chain of the one true
church (the Baptists, of course) all the way back to the first
century.  Others claim that there is not an unbroken chain, but that
what makes a Baptist church is its adherence to correct Christian
doctrines, including New Testament accounts of church organization and
authority.  Under this definition, Baptists are independent of the
Catholic/Protestant split, but this does not seem to be
well-established history.

It appears that the Baptist denomination is an offshoot of the Church
of England under Henry Jacob, which had seven churches by 1644.

The Northern vs. Southern Baptist split in the U.S. occurred in 1845
over the issue of slavery (the Southern Baptists favored it).  The
Northern and Southern Baptists continue to clash over social issues,
with the Northern Baptists being more liberal than their Southern
counterparts.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA02/harris/sbc/home.html


Based on substantiated historical records, the Baptist denomination is
an offshoot of a Protestant denomination, and can be accurately
classified as Protestant.