Jane Cook - Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq and Afghanistan

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)

A question that reporters often ask Congressman Akin is this: How did having a son in Iraq impact your decisions as a lawmaker?

“It would be nice if I had a flashy story to relate. I grew up in the Vietnam era. I saw the Mel Gibson movie We Were Soldiers that accurately summarized my sense that there wasn’t good civilian leadership when our troops were at war (in Vietnam),” Akin said.

“So as a member of Congress I have a passionate belief that it’s not a light matter to send people to war. When we send men and women to war, we must tell them to win. Don’t send them into a no-win situation. Give them the best equipment possible. Make sure they can whip whoever they face, and get it done.”

“Having my own children in the military didn’t change my mind about anything, because I always felt like all those kids were my kids. You put a name on them, it’s more personal. It’s scarier.”

Akin’s foundations and principles are set. His beliefs in liberty are well grounded.

“I believe there are some principles you are willing to die for. I’ll die for my Creator. I will also die fighting to protect the liberties and freedoms that we inherited in this country. That’s what generations of Americans have been willing to do when their nation called. Their sons and daughters have responded throughout history because we have a creed we believe in,” he said of the principles found in the Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to be self evident…”

“There’s a God who gives basic rights to people. The job of government is to protect those rights. To boil it down to a formula: God gives basic rights to people. The job of the government is to be a servant, a protector of those God-given rights,” Akin said.

“So what’s the big deal about us fighting terrorists? Terrorists kill innocent people to make a political statement. Terrorists want to terrorize you and me to take away our liberty. We believe life is a gift from God the exact opposite point of view. We’ve always fought people who are polar opposites of ourselves. That’s what my children were brought up to believe. That’s what I believe. That’s what I do. My work is that I fight the war of ideas rather than bullets,” Congressman Akin explained.

Life is a gift from an everlasting God who created each human heart with a desire for freedom.

Thank you for creating me, for giving me liberty and basic rights. I pray for our government leaders, for their commitment to protect the rights you have given me.

“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28)

“I look at my job in a number of different ways. Sometimes I think God loaned me a hat that says United States Congress. My job is to think how many innovative ways can I find to use my hat today,” Congressman Akin expressed about his governmental role.

“Our lives in Congress are not too much different than anybody else’s. We have just a certain number of people that we talk to, circulate around, and do things. We don’t have much power. Because there are four hundred and thirty-five of us, it’s difficult to get an agreement. Unless there’s a pretty good consensus, many things just don’t happen.”

“Part of wearing my hat means I must take other ways of looking at my job. After graduating from engineering school, I began selling computers for IBM. Now God has called me to sell something else the principles of Scripture that make people free and prosperous. I look for opportunities to sell his ideas.”

Akin spoke to 250 international students who were visiting Washington, D.C. to study American government in the spring of 2008. They were curious.

“What type of government do we have in America and how was it founded?” Akin relayed. He asked them where the idea of separation of church and state came from. They weren’t sure. “The founders got the idea from the Bible.”

He explained the influence of a 1580s-era Scotch theologian, who saw a pattern in the Old Testament of separating civil government from church government. Adopting this idea, the Pilgrims founded America based on the new principle of separating these two governments.

“The Supreme Court has incorrectly understood the First Amendment. It was never the founders’ intent to take God out of civil government, because we believe God is the source of all human rights. How can you take God out of government if you believe he is the source of inalienable rights?” Akin asked.

Akin sees his role as explaining the founding principles of our nation to others. He feels that that’s part of his job to sell God’s ideas.

“I have no power of enforcement. But I have the power to persuade, and that’s how I look at it.”

Regardless of what hat you wear or what skills you possess, God is the source of your inalienable rights, a reason to celebrate life and share your freedom with others.