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Cloud of Witnesses Radio
Military Man Discovers Christ | From Episcopalian to Navy Life to Eastern Orthodoxy | TIO001 CWP067
This is Orthodoxy. Meet Andrew.
Can military discipline and spiritual faith go hand in hand? Discover the compelling story of Orthodox Christian, Andrew, an Operations Specialist Second Class in the United States Navy, as he navigates his spiritual journey from an Episcopalian upbringing in Massachusetts to finding solace in Orthodox Christianity while stationed in San Diego. Raised amidst diverse religious beliefs, Andrew experienced a period of lost faith during his teenage years, only to be reignited by witnessing a friend's ocean baptism. This powerful moment set him on a path to deeper, more meaningful worship and led him to the supportive community of St. Anthony's Church.
Explore how the unique dynamics of military life intersect with faith at St. Anthony's Church, a sanctuary for many service members stationed in San Diego. Andrew shares his personal experiences of how military discipline complements the structured practices of Orthodox Christianity, from morning prayers to reflections on his favorite Bible verse, Psalm 144. Learn how faith and spiritual preparedness play a crucial role for those facing the uncertainties of naval life, and why Andrew chose St. Andrew as his patron saint. Join us for an insightful conversation that underscores the profound impact of faith and community in the military context.
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Hi, I'm Andrew. I'm an Orthodox Christian. I've been in the military for two and a half years now and I've been an Orthodox Christian for barely a year now, almost. Oh, half a year, half a year now. So I grew up in Massachusetts.
Speaker 1:I was raised Episcopalian it's kind of funny because my mother's Catholic and my dad was Episcopalian. So it was a weird dynamic for a little bit, but I primarily went. Dad was Episcopalian, so it was a weird dynamic for a little bit, but I primarily went to the Episcopalian church. The church I went to they had some really nice stained glass windows of a few of the stories in the Bible, as well as under the patron saint of St Michael, one of the archangels, archangels. So I thought that was all pretty cool. But as I kind of grew up and like I kind of like lost a little bit of the faith a little bit, mostly because it's kind of it's not really, I just didn't, I just didn't hit the same Because I was growing up there, I was going through my emotions going there, and when I came around high school age I was just like, okay, I'm tired of this, I want to like enjoy my whole weekends. But then, as I was going through high school, my mom said if you didn't know what you want to do after high school, she wanted me to go to seminary school and become a priest for the Catholic church, I believe, but she didn't really specify what church either. She's like go become a priest for the Catholic Church, I believe, but she didn't really specify what church either. She's like go become a priest. She just wanted one of her sons to become a priest. I'm like, okay, I'm not doing that. So I went to the military instead. So I went to the military.
Speaker 1:Boot camp was interesting because you have Sundays as your holiday routine. I mean, you have like a few hours off to either organize your stuff, clean you couldn't really sleep, you just kind of like just chilled for a few hours, but is if you were but you also had an opportunity to attend a lot of religious services. So we had a lot of interesting ones, because then your Hindu some Wicca there was like there's a Wicca service and of course, the Catholic Protestant Baptist, all the other Christian Hindu some Wicca there was a Wicca service and of course, the Catholic Protestant Baptist, all the other Christian denominations as well as, in the Islamic world, some of the Muslim services as well. So I didn't attend any of those. I was just too focused on just getting through boot camp to worry about that life.
Speaker 1:So after boot camp I went down to Pensacola, florida, for a little bit and there there was a lot of Baptists like kind of like on base, talking to people hey, you know, have you heard the word of Christ? And all that, and they're trying to, like you know, get you to go to their Bible study and all that, which is, I think I didn't go at all. But I had one of my friends who did go and he was baptized in the ocean with their Baptist group. What was it like seeing a friend get baptized? So since I grew up Christian, I didn't really get the big idea like, oh, why is this baptism in like a later age, such a crazy idea, like why is it so meaningful to them? Versus, I was just like, is this like good for them? Kind of like underplayed it a little bit. But now that I've, you know, went through my own re-baptism, to say the least, I get the importance of it and why it's very meaningful. It's a sign of rebirth and all that. So when he got through that, he really did become a whole new person after that, which is good for him. I still talk to him to this day. He might see this, he might not. Does he know you're Orthodox? He knows I'm Orthodox. I did invite him to my baptism as well. Rock band music for churches it's cool, but it's not for me. I couldn't really make it a thing for every Sunday to go to. I just like, all right, I need something a bit more tasteful or a bit more like what's the word I'm trying to use for this? More reverent, yes, more reverent, andrew. Why Orthodoxy? Though You're in San Diego, california, you can literally go to any church you can imagine.
Speaker 1:Where did Orthodoxy even first enter your radar? The Orthodox Church first entered my radar when I was I don't know, I think I was in middle school or something. My older sister mentioned it as one of the first original churches and that kind of stayed in my mind all the way up until now. Which is crazy. So I was thinking about that and I was like, all right, I'm now, which is crazy. So I was thinking about that. I was like, all right, I'm tired of this Baptist church, I want to see something else. Like, oh, church hop, you know all right. So I'm really interested in this orthodoxy. What's it all about? So my life changed with orthodoxy.
Speaker 1:Well before I even came to the Orthodox Church I was kind of like in a I guess depression a little bit, because I came out to a place I didn't know. San Diego is unfamiliar territory. I don't know anybody out here, my family was not out here. I don't really know anyone on the ship. I don't got a whole lot of friends out here and the Baptist Church I've been going to didn't really help that.
Speaker 1:But when I came to the Orthodox Church I think the biggest thing that really changed is that I had my community. The big thing I was looking for out here was trying to find my community, that one I could just hang out with, talk to and not feel like I have to talk about work or anything like that, but just hang out with them, have fun. So that's probably the biggest thing I think the Orthodox Church really brought to me is that community, the light of life really. I mean I get told this all the time on the ship that hey, you know, when I'm not there people actually miss me. Because I'm this very fun person to be around, very rejuvenating person. I bring a personality of you know, fun and just like hey, that's not serious, let's not fight each other about this, it's reasonable, let's be reasonable about it. Um, which is something I don't really think about when I leave or like go do training or something, but I come back like hey, man, we missed you. I have people asking about me all the time where's where my aunt, where's andrea? Even at the church, like, um, some of the, the grandmothers there, they always ask about me. Can you say it one more time?
Speaker 1:Orthodoxy helped me get out of my depression and then start with the whole entire thing because of the community. Alright, cool, orthodoxy got me out of my depression when I first came to San Diego, because the community out here is amazing, especially the young adult, because a lot of churches I feel like I've been to have either been dominated by a lot of older people or just people in their mid-20s range. It's not like the whole range from like from cradle to grave I don't want to say that phrase, but the whole, you know, from very young to very old, has that whole spectrum which is just like a very important piece of life which I think a lot of people miss out on. Why I think orthodoxy is attracting a lot of young men like myself or young adults type deal is because it goes against a lot of what modernity is pushing towards. Very simplistic this is.
Speaker 1:Orthodoxy is very complex. There's never one answer. There's never a simple answer for the orthodox way. It's a long and complicated way that the only way you can explain it is just come and see. That's the only way to explain it. There's no. If you try to simplify it, you cut out so much that's so important and that goes on the question. It's going against the Mondurne, which they choose to simplify everything. With a lot of other churches they go simple. They usually do one specific part of Christ's life, whether he died for our sins and that they just leave them there. They don't talk about Pentecost or they only talk about Pentecost. They don't talk about his life and his struggles. Orthodoxy puts it all together in the entire year with its whole, all its seasons.
Speaker 1:Experiencing Lent for the first time as Orthodox Christian for me, since I've never fasted or never really done Lent to any extent, has been very difficult. Avoiding meats has been the real struggle and, as well as meats, dairy and eggs, surprisingly very difficult, especially with my lifestyle being in the military. We have a very strict menu and vegan and vegetarian options are somewhat available. Available, but they're not often the best and you might risk getting food poisoning. Tell us why. Why did you want to do this? Why do you think this is meaningful for you?
Speaker 1:I was going to say I'm going to start with a joke because I like being on camera. That's good, but in all honesty, I just wanted to talk about how St Anthony's as a church is very unique, especially with a lot of churches in the San Diego area, because it's in between a few different military bases. You have Camp Pelton to the north with the Marines, and then you have Naval Base San Diego on 32nd Street, as well as Coronado. You have all these different military bases around and all these military personnel, all these different military bases around and all these military personnel, and I just want to talk about how the military is like, the reason why I'm only out here. So somehow, you know, god used the military to evangelize and people in the church have seen it all the time. There's a whole bunch of military people getting baptized all the time here and they're going on deployment. So there's this big especially for St Anthony's. It attracts a lot of military, because military attracts military. That's the only way you're going to get them to show up. Is someone else in the military or someone who's daring enough to show up and trust me new, because I was a bit scared when I first showed up and you know, now I'm not and I'm excited, but you wanted to share this. I just want to talk about how just great the community out here was and it's like how important this, this whole entire life of the Saints is, is because you know, a lot of like Orthodoxy is going online. Now it's becoming more popular online, which is part of the reason why a little bit, why I showed up, started coming to become orthodox, because the online communities have been very active active.
Speaker 1:I still was an inquirer because this was during Holy Week and there's all these different services going on. I, just since I had nothing else to do, I was just like I'm just going to go to all the services, as many as I can, and I did. And then I stayed for one of the what do you call your event thing? Oh, just a gathering. Just like a young adult Young adult, yeah, young adult bonfire. I just stayed for a gathering after church and they were just discussing things. And this was like my second or third week or something of us being an inquirer and I wasn't even technically a catechumen. They kind of joked around that I had an inquirer's zeal, which is a bit funny.
Speaker 1:Being right with God before deployment matters more so than anything else because I'm in the Navy, I'm on an old ship and, being a sailor, there's a lot of superstition of sailors. So getting right with God is almost a necessity because there's a lot of anything can go at sea and you're the only one that can maybe fix it. So if your ship starts flooding, starts sinking, you better hope you can fix it or start floating. And the same thing because with there's also piracy and other things going on outside that are affecting the Navy and my profession, where my life and where my ship could be in danger from either missiles from China or Russia type deal God willing not or just simple things like the ship's rocking so much that you break your leg on a ladder. Well, some things as routine as eating can become dangerous if you're not careful or if you don't make the preparations. So there's a lot of dangers, especially with being a sailor and going to sea.
Speaker 1:Getting right with God is a necessity. It's rigorous and requires discipline which the military kind of instills in you to some degree. Some people fight against it later on, but there's a certain level of discipline given to you in the military kind of instills in you to some degree. Some people fight against it later on, but there's a certain level of discipline given to you in the military and the Orthodox Church kind of. You can also use that discipline from the military in the Orthodox Church in a lot of its routines, whether morning prayers, evening prayers, prayers before meals.
Speaker 1:Hi, my name's Andrew. I'm an Orthodox Christian. My favorite Bible verse is Psalm 144. The reason why that's my favorite Bible verse is because it's about God preparing for you, preparing you for war, as well as saying that he is your fortress and protecting you while you're at war. And since I'm in the military it's a bit more meaningful than some of the other. But also the Bible has a lot of verses about preparing for war. So there's that. I chose St Andrew, the first called. The reason why I chose that one is because I was the first one in my family to become orthodox and also I thought it was fitting that I would choose that one and keep my first name. I didn't want to change my name to be something really interesting or too crazy where I wouldn't really respond to it, so I just stuck with Andrew. Hi, I'm Andrew. I'm an Orthodox Christian. I'm an Operations Specialist Second Class in the United States, navy Woo, that's it. That was West America.