Open Bible Ministries: A home away from home for military men and women: A case study

The military community is unique, and in many ways constitutes a separate people group with its own language, customs, and culture. The vast majority of people in the military are young adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. As a result, Pentecostal evangelistic and discipleship efforts must target military personnel in this age group in ways that are intentional and unique. There is a three-fold problem involved with the evangelization and discipleship of military men and women. The first involves military chaplains who, for a variety of contextual reasons, are often hindered from actively evangelizing and discipling servicemen and women. The second involves the local civilian church, which faces its own challenges in evangelizing military personnel. Frequently, churches in military communities and their pastors are unfamiliar with a military member's unique cultural needs and may not have the inclination, resources, or ability to evangelize and disciple them. The third involves existing local military ministries and servicemen's centers which, while performing admirably in many ways, are not Pentecostal and thus limited in completing the evangelism process as defined from a Pentecostal perspective and often do not welcome Pentecostal servicemen and women.;The author designed a ministry project utilizing the case study approach to evaluate the evidence presented by the ministry to demonstrate how it accomplished its purpose and fulfilled its objectives in the lives of those who participated in the ministry from October 2000 until April 2007. A diagrammatic model of the ministry provided the structure for the project, while seven propositions guided the evaluation process. Specific areas of the ministry were examined to determine the validity of the propositions.;An online survey measured the ministry participant's perception of OBM and the effect it had on them. Each completed survey was considered a semi-structured interview with the ministry participant, with those who completed the survey becoming the ministry project's key informants. Information gathered through the survey was cross-checked and supplemented with the ministry's documentation, archival records, and the ministry leader's field notes and journal entries maintained during the seven-year period being evaluated.;This dissertation serves as the case study report. It provides evidence for the potential success of cooperation between military chaplains and an evangelistic, military-focused house church in evangelizing and discipling military personnel. It serves to highlight the evidence for a potential praxis of ministry for the Pentecostal church to the military. And it provides evidence for the solution to the problem of providing a Pentecostal alternative to existing military ministries, to meet the needs of Pentecostal servicemen and women.;Open Bible Ministries, Inc. (OBM) is presented as a unique method of doing military ministry from a Pentecostal perspective. The ministry's purpose is to establish close interpersonal relationships with servicemen and women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five by providing a safe and caring home environment. These interpersonal relationships then provide the platform for ministry to the individual's spiritual needs. The ministry has four objectives for servicemen and women: to help them initiate and develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; to become established in the Word of God intellectually and behaviorally; to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit in order to be divinely empowered as witnesses for Jesus Christ; and to be culturally sensitive witnesses for Jesus Christ among their peers, multinational forces in combined military operations, and among civilian residents of the countries where they are sent.