DVIDS – News – Camp Zama prayer breakfast brings community together for food, faith, fellowship

CAMP ZAMA, Japan – When Col. Stephen Browne was a part of the Nice East Japan Earthquake restoration efforts in 2011, he knew prayers for everybody concerned had been pouring in from around the globe.

Understanding that so many individuals had him of their ideas was in a position to carry him via the various arduous days, even when the work had pushed him previous the purpose of exhaustion, he stated.

“I used to be so busy that I hardly had time to sleep … [and] there isn’t any doubt that there have been issues that sustained me far past my bodily capabilities,” Browne stated. “There’s numerous energy in prayer, no matter what faith or perception system you’ve gotten.”

Browne relayed this story and different experiences to the practically 200 visitors in attendance at Camp Zama’s Nationwide Prayer Breakfast held Could 2 on the neighborhood membership right here.

When the occasion began, attendees helped themselves to a buffet-style serving of assorted breakfast meals. Totally different command chaplains provided varied prayers after the meal — for households, for peace, the armed forces and the nation — earlier than Browne was launched.

At present the director of Plans and Coverage for U.S. Forces Japan, Browne was in 2011 serving as a liaison amongst U.S. forces, the Japan Self-Protection Forces, and the bilateral coordination motion crew generally known as Joint Activity Drive – Tohoku. The joint crew helped with the coordination and planning of catastrophe restoration and reconstruction operations as a part of what was dubbed “Operation Tomodachi.”

The colonel praised the occasion as an effective way to advertise fellowship inside the neighborhood and stated he was impressed by the variety of individuals in attendance.

“I like the truth that we are able to get collectively as a religion group [with] a shared set of frequent values … regardless of that we might observe completely different religions,” Browne stated. “That claims quite a bit about who we’re as individuals, as people.”

The occasion additionally included an handle from Col. Marcus Hunter, commander of U.S. Military Garrison Japan, and a musical efficiency by a refrain made up of neighborhood members.