OCF Partners

March 6, 2007 Memo From Officers’ Christian Fellowship to Their Staff

Christian officers exercising biblical leadership to raise up a godly military.

I want to inform you of an exciting partnership between OCF and the Military Ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ that will help both organizations minister more effectively in ROTC units.

Some of you are already aware of Valor, which is Military Ministry’s ROTC effort. Valor is a volunteer-led ministry that has spread on many ROTC campuses across the country in the past few years. We recently met with Colonel Chuck Macri (USAFR), National Director of the Military Ministry and LTC Jim Hocker (USAR, ret) who oversees the startup of new campus Valor movements. They offer their considerable resources to our members and staff who are working with cadets and midshipmen.

The Valor movement offers an existing network of civilian Campus Crusade staff on most ROTC campuses who can disciple and mentor cadet and midshipmen Bible study leaders producing trained leaders who are ready to lead on campus and after they are commissioned. Campus Crusade is offering to assist us wherever needed to train our OCF cadet leaders as well. They have also offered us the use of their resources, most of them at no cost:

· ROTC Bible studies and God & the Military DVD

· Outreach strategies to build local movements with tools like Cadet & Midshipman Survival Kits

· Summer cadet partnerships with foreign military academies where cadets and midshipmen teach English and then share the gospel after hours with their cadet counterparts

· Christmas conferences, fall retreats, Katrina relief projects

Valor staff already provide resources for some of our OCF Bible studies, and on some campuses OCF and Valor have joined forces. Military Ministry is already promoting our OCF ROTC retreats through their Valor web site and cadet distribution system, and they would like to work with us to set up retreats in each of their ten campus regions.

Both OCF and Military Ministry seek two things from cadets and midshipmen by the time they are commissioned:

· A strong grounding in the Word of God

· A commitment to minister the Gospel of Jesus Christ as military men and women

Whether our fellowships in ROTC units identify themselves as OCF, Valor, or both (it is up to them), we can help them achieve both aims. We would expect that most graduates of these programs would continue in their military service either as active members and leaders in OCF or as associate staff of Military Ministry. Some might even desire to do both.

If you are involved in ROTC ministry, Jim would like to add you to his Valor newsletter and email update list. If you would like to be added or if you want to find out more about Valor, contact Jim Hocker through the Valor web site or email him .

Jim Hougnon,
Colonel, US Army Retired
Director of Field Outreach
Officers’ Christian Fellowship