When Congressman Akin visited his son, Lt. Perry Akin, in Fallujah in March 2005, he asked many questions about the leadership in Iraq. One answer shocked him.
When I talked to the major in Fallujah I asked, “Now, if there were one or two things that I could do to help you, what would they be?”
“I’d like more up-armored Humvees,” the major replied.
“You got to be kidding me? We’ve had this controversy for two years. We are shipping up-armored Humvees into this place (Iraq) like it’s going to sink,” Akin said in disbelief.
“What do you mean you need up-armored Humvees?” Akin asked, astonished.
“Well, we don’t have enough, Sir. We don’t have as many as we need,” the major replied.
As the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Akin was quite familiar with the up-armored Humvee controversy. Because of the enemy’s increasing use of IEDs and mortar attacks, Humvees needed additional armored protection.
“So I go back here (Washington, D.C.) and have the staffers do some digging. We discover that the up-armored Humvees are going to areas around Iraq where there’s almost no violence, but the Marines in Fallujah were getting a limited amount of the up-armored Humvees. So we changed where the up-armored Humvees were going. Within a month or two, up-armored Humvees were flowing into Fallujah,” Akin said.
Akin didn’t know at the time that his “good work” would soon affect someone close to his son. Congressman Akin was visiting Perry at Camp Lejeune about a year after he’d been in Fallujah. Perry’s best friend from the Naval Academy walked out the front door of this little bungalow where second lieutenants live at Camp Lejeune and greeted Congressman Akin.
“Congressman Akin thank you for saving my life. I was driving one of those up-armored Humvees and hit an IED. It totally destroyed the Humvee but I walked away from it,” the Marine explained.
“That was one of those special moments for me when the Lord made this connection and ended up saving the life of this young man,” Akin said.
Whether serving in Congress or the community center, you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in advance to do good works (see Eph. 2:10). Even when you don’t see the fruits of your labor, you can trust in God’s might and firmness in his purpose for your life.
Bring to me confirmation of the work you have for me. Remind me of what is truly important today.
“God is mighty, but does not despise men; he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.” (Job 36:5)