July 17. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Austin. Tom and his wife Cheri lived in Hospitality House, just outside the gate of the US Military Academy at West Point.
Years before, through the Officers’ Christian Fellowship (OCF), Tom, then a cadet himself, had chosen life with Jesus. And he had dreamed of someday running OCF, one of the most vibrant student organizations at the academy. He wanted to serve the men and women who sacrificed to serve their country. He wanted to open the Bible to them. He wanted to help them know Christ. Now, after retiring from active duty, here he was. He wanted to model Christ, and replicate his faith in the cadets.
Want to impact the world? Replicate, equip, and send out.
Tom was all about replication. After all, Jesus Himself poured into others, who poured into others, who poured into others. And they had changed the world.
Tom loved the men and women who sacrificed to serve their country. That’s why Tom and his wife Cheri had returned to West Point. That’s why, instead of embracing the retired life, they led the Officers’ Christian Fellowship—and were on call 24/7. That’s why—on this evening—Tom had to fight his way through his own kitchen.
Wolfing down huge quantities of food, cadets packed Tom’s kitchen like uniformed sardines. He pushed past the extra refrigerator and the dishwasher. The smell of salty sweat mingled with the aroma of mega-quantities of Sloppy Joes.
When Tom finally reached the back yard, he surveyed the crowded lawn between the door and the barn. Some eighty cadets flooded the Hospitality House and its extensive yard.
He loved the chaos. After the meal they would enjoy worship, prayer, and a short message about God from one of the team members. Next Tuesday at the lecture hall on campus, about 200 cadets would gather for praise and worship, and then break into Bible study groups.
Tom scanned the lawn for members of OCF’s student-led leadership team. He strategically shared the work of helping cadets grow in intimacy with Christ, and the upperclassmen carried the ministry. Tom, Cheri, and the West Point staff he had recruited (young captains, majors and their wives), were the cadets’ mentors. If you loved Jesus, Tom recruited you to help someone else learn to do the same.
Across the lawn, student leaders Blake and Will laughed with their friend Hollis Young—a stocky cadet with cropped brown hair. Blake and Will had been talking with Hollis about faith, but the soldier wasn’t sure what he believed. Hollis knew Tom had mentored his friends in spiritual matters, so he asked Tom if he would meet with him.
A few days later, Tom stepped into a little side-room in West Point’s Officers’ Club. He required cadets to take ownership of personal meetings, so Hollis had chosen the meeting time and this location, close to the academic building where he took classes. Hollis arrived right on time. They were off to a good start.
Tom had his Bible because he usually took the cadets through Scripture, likely a New Testament epistle. Maybe Colossians would be good for Hollis.
But Hollis had questions. Questions about God’s character. Questions about salvation. Questions about his personal standing with God. Before he was ready to care about Scripture, Hollis needed someone to care about him—and to listen to the myriad spiritual questions that dogged him.
So Tom listened intently, which took effort. Listening wasn’t his strength. He was gifted in instructing, teaching, and equipping—not so much in silence.
By God’s grace, Tom reflected Hollis’s earnest questions back.
The cadet spoke openly, and Tom was impressed. He respected Hollis’s authentic journey of discovery—even if their time together looked much different than the Bible study he usually offered. Not only did Tom determine to truly hear what Hollis was telling him, but Tom also prayed he would truly hear the Holy Spirit. Tom needed God’s help to discern what the earnest cadet needed.
Together, the two men waded slowly into deeper spiritual waters. Tom allowed Hollis’s contemplative nature to lead their conversation—and he trusted that the Holy Spirit would meet them in the depths.
Over the next two-and-a-half years, Tom and Hollis talked. Eventually, Tom did pull out his Bible, and they studied together. A lot.
When Hollis fell in love, Tom coached him through the relationship. Mentor and mentee grew closer than ever. All too soon, Hollis prepared for graduation. But there was one thing Hollis wanted before he left West Point—to be submerged in a believer’s baptism by his mentor.
Brilliant sunshine marked the day. Hollis’s friends—cadets who had helped him follow Jesus—lined the shore of a lake that butted up against the barracks at Camp Buchner.
Tom and Hollis grinned at each other, they stepped into the lake, and Tom dipped Hollis beneath the water. When the young man came up, water droplets sprayed the air, and the guys on shore shouted with pure joy.
Hollis said being baptized by Tom was one of his life’s greatest honors.
After Hollis graduated, Tom and Cheri served OCF for three more years. Finally, they retired from their retirement job and moved closer to grandchildren. Life became more sedate. But one fine September day in 2019, someone knocked on the door.
When Tom pulled the door open, Hollis and his wife stood there, and they were beaming.
Tom invited them inside, hungry for an update. He knew that while Hollis worked in aviation for the Army, he had also pursued a Master’s of Divinity degree. But Hollis had traveled six hours to tell Tom more. When his time was up, Hollis planned to re-enlist—as a chaplain.
Tom dipped his head. Emotion constricted his chest. In these turbulent times, staying in the military was a decision that meant self-denial, deployment, and danger. To Tom, Hollis’s choice to re-enlist—to help other military men and women grow in faith—was not only the ultimate compliment, it was the ultimate replication.
“He also told them this parable: ‘Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher’” (Luke 6:39–40 NIV).
Want to change the world? Replicate, equip, and send out.
This story is based on an interview with Tom Austin, May 13, 2020.
Story read by: Chuck Stecker
Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter
Audio production: Joel Carpenter
Story written by: Paula Moldenhauer, http://paulamoldenhauer.com/
Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/
Project manager: Blake Mattocks
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