I received an e-mail from a friend the other day. On the surface it didn’t appear to be anything earth shattering, just a note from a former student, letting me know how she was doing out in the "real" Air Force. She was one of many students who were part of our OCF group at Tyndall AFB who blessed us for a short time before moving on to their ops units (mostly AWACS and Joint-STARS).

The gist of her letter was fairly simple: God is working in mighty ways in the OCF group at Tinker AFB, specifically in providing growth in the 552 Air Control Wing (AWACS). That statement might not seem like a big deal, but for me it was a huge answer to prayer. In the context of my life, it was a great lesson in the importance of being obedient and listening when God calls you.

When I first arrived at Tyndall AFB, there was no organized OCF presence. I was longing for some Christian fellowship with other officers. Since I had been an OCF member for several years, I thought that perhaps God wanted me to become a local representative and organize a group. I have always had a gift for organization, but I had convinced myself that I was not spiritually mature enough to teach a Bible study.

So, despite feeling God’s call to start an OCF group, I procrastinated for months, and rationalized my inaction by saying, "My gifts are in administration, not teaching; I can’t lead the study myself; I’m not ready; I wouldn’t know what to do." Meanwhile, I prayed that God would raise up a teacher. I had fallen into the common trap of praying that God would make things happen the way I thought they should, instead of praying for God to show me the way things should be.

After over a year of resisting God’s call, I found myself at an OCF Regional Training Conference at Maxwell AFB. While reading a copy of Leading Effective Small Groups, I discovered that you don’t need a seminary degree to lead a Bible study. God showed me that He just needed someone to be a mouthpiece, a vessel to be used by the Holy Spirit. He would do the teaching, I just needed to heed His call. So I decided then and there to start a study, using the materials provided by the OCF home office for a study of Nehemiah. From my perspective, it was a small decision, a simple act of obedience. But from God’s perspective, it was the most important thing I had done in quite a while.

Our group started out very small, and as we followed God’s lead, He showed us exactly what to do. We had a wide variety of pilots, support folks, battle managers, and medical personnel in attendance. God blessed us with great relationships with our chaplains, and we learned that when we follow His guidance, He’ll open the doors and provide us with the resources we need.

Over the years at Tyndall, God sent us many faithful and excited Christian officers with whom to fellowship and work together. One of the bittersweet joys during that time was watching many of them graduate and move on. Although we were sad to see them go, we were also encouraged to know that we were sending out junior officers who were excited about OCF’s vision for a spiritually transformed military, and were ready to be real ambassadors for Christ.

It was one of those former students who sent me word of all that is going on at Tinker AFB. She said, "God is doing amazing things at Tinker. It’s a growing movement and we pray it grows stronger and unites the Christian brethren on this base."

As I read her letter I thought back to that moment in an RTC at Maxwell when I finally listened to God and obeyed His call to start the group at Tyndall. I realized that God did some amazing things from that one small act of obedience, and as I thought about my experiences as the local rep at Tyndall, a few things became very clear to me:

1. When God calls you to do something, take action. In the Air Force we are taught to never take off without a flight plan, but I think God wants us to behave more like the submarine skipper who sails off on patrol and opens his orders once he’s at sea. Just get underway and God will fill in the details as they become necessary.

2. Get over the idea that you are going to do anything by yourself. God’s going to do it, you’re just his instrument. I realize now that while I sat around those first few months at Tyndall, I was guilty of supreme arrogance. Who was I to think that God could not use me as I was for whatever purpose He had in mind? God had chosen me. I should have listened a lot sooner than I did.

3. If you’re faithful God will further His kingdom through you. You will see things happen that you would never have dreamed of on your own. The things that God is doing at Tinker right now are just the latest works that He has done through the group from Tyndall, and He’s still working there in mighty ways. Whether it is an event as big as a regional retreat, or as small as a neighborhood potluck, when we obey God’s call and do what He wants us to do, His name is glorified.

4. Failure to obey God’s call can have negative effects. I’ll never know what opportunities were missed, or what "could have been" if I had listened and started the Tyndall study earlier.

If God is calling you to lead a Bible study, He will equip you to do it. All you have to say is, "Here I am, God. Show me what to do." The OCF home office has prepared study materials specifically designed for starting a new local fellowship (Local Leader Starter Kit). There are also plenty of books available in any Christian bookstore to help you make a discussion easy and fun. You will be amazed at the things God will do in the lives of folks around you.

Capt Chris Holinger and his wife, Maj Deb Holinger, and their daughter, Catherine, are currently stationed at Robins AFB, Georgia, where Chris and Deb are Senior Directors flying the E-8C Joint-STARS aircraft. Chris first became involved with OCF as an ROTC cadet at Gordon College, attending a Bible study at Hanscom AFB, MA. Deb joined him in ministry when the two were married while stationed at Tinker AFB, OK. They were local reps for OCF during their last assignment at Tyndall AFB, FL. Chris was recently selected for promotion to Major, and the couple are expecting their second child, a boy, in June.