We Need Each Other - Always

 

Hello my name is Torino DeGuzman. I have been a Soldier in the U.S. Army for 21 years and a disciple for 10. Being a disciple in the military has not always been an easy road to travel. Since Charice, my wife, and I were baptized March 8, 1998, we have always had to travel great distances to church. We were baptized in Nashville, TN and we traveled about an hour one way to church from Clarksville, TN (Fort Campbell). In 1999, the Army sent me to Korea for a year without my family. For that year I traveled by taxi, bus, train, and another bus about 3-4 hours depending on traffic. When my year was up, Charice and I were sent to Savannah, Georgia (2000) where we traveled to Jacksonville, Florida about 2 ½ hours away for about 18 months due to the fact that there wasn’t a church there yet.

In 2001, I was deployed to Afghanistan and while I was there a church was finally planted in Savannah (2002) which was only 20 minutes away - HOORAY! After the church was planted I was sent back to Middle East (2003) by way of Iraq this time. The family and I then went to Korea together for a 2 year tour from 2004 -2006. I had a car so the drive was only about 2 hours; however we had to contend with being parents to two children, the language barrier, and being so far away from other disciples. When our time was finished in Korea (2006), we then went to Fort Rucker for a year and a half. From there, we traveled to Tallahassee, Florida about 2 ½ hours away. I am now in Egypt and my family is back in Savannah, Georgia. So, as you see, our entire lives as disciples we have had to travel great distances to church.

 

I am not going to tell you that it was always easy to make that drive. There were days that we felt like we had very little or no motivation at all. Sometimes Charice and I wanted to say “We’ll go next Sunday”. Other times we were like “Do we have to go today?” The answer was an emphatic “YES.” It didn’t matter where the Army sent us - we were going to do all we could to get to church. When we counted the cost those years ago, we both knew that we would do what ever it took. That was, and is our mind set now when it comes to going to church. We know that deep down in our hearts we NEED and WANT the FELLOWSHIP. We NEEDED the time to be open and get help with our marriage and raising our children.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I was deployed to Afghanistan from 2001 – 2002 and I can remember praying everyday that GOD would send other disciples into my area; I did this for 132 days. Then one day I was at breakfast and I saw a HOPE worldwide shirt on a guy -- you know who you are. On the back of it was written the Triangle Church. I ran him down and asked “Are you a member of the Triangle Church?” he said “NO.” My heart just dropped to the bottom of my stomach and I thought "Satan got me again." Then he said “I am a member of the Fayetteville Church.” I all but cried when he said that. I instantly thanked and apologized to GOD for doubting HIM. I later learned that all along there were 5-6 Disciples and I didn’t know it. We started getting together and sharing our struggles on being deployed. We had great talks; thanks guys. GOD knew that I NEEDED that time to FELLOWSHIP with my brothers in battle and faith. It really helped set the foundation for me to be willing to share my struggles up front.

 

We know that being without the FELLOWSHIP is a hard task. When we were in Savannah, before the church was planted, we found out how hard it really was. We went through some very rough times personally and in our marriage. We would call back to disciples in Clarksville for help, but we soon realized that they weren’t the people we saw week in and week out. We were going elsewhere for advice and we should have been going closer to home. I would say to myself “I don’t know what lesson GOD is trying to teach us”, but we realized He was teaching us to be OPEN about our lives. If we didn’t obey the scriptures about confessing our sins, we were just giving Satan a foothold to attack us.

 

One of the biggest things we learned from traveling to different churches was that we needed RELATIONSHIPS. We make every effort to get to know as many people as we can where ever we go. This helps us when it comes to getting help and advice; whether it is for our marriage or our kids. At every church we try and open up to people as soon as we can. We let them know the who, what, where, why and the "how come" about the DeGuzmans. I know it sounds like a lot but that’s what we HAVE to do in order to build those relationships. We found that it is so much easier when we are TOTALLY upfront about our lives. I mean EVERYTHING; not just picking and choosing what we want to share. It makes other disciples feel more comfortable and at ease with opening up about their lives and struggles with us.

 

In our travels as disciples, we have learned that some of the most important things are the simplest. That is to be open and build relationships. We have discovered this is what helped us to remain faithful in our years of traveling to and from church. I hope that this helps other disciples to be encouraged to keep fighting. If anybody would like to respond or have comments I can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

Your Brother in Christ

 

Torino DeGuzman

Posted by Jerry Maday