While the U.S. Congress debates President Donald Trump’s plans to pull out 9,500 troops — roughly a third of the 34,500 troops in Germany — many evangelical ministries to American service members, civil staff, and their families, are getting ready to adapt if need be.
Despite the upheaval a drop in personnel levels might cause, and the uncertainty about potential locations and placements, pastors and ministry leaders are staying optimistic and “Kingdom minded” through it all — looking for opportunities amidst the challenges of change.
CEO and Co-Founder of The Warrior’s Journey — “an interactive online community for military members, veterans, and their families” — Kevin Weaver, an Air Force veteran with two sons in active duty, said, “we are poised and in position to serve in the wake of any movements or shutdowns.”
Although President Trump approved the planned pull out in late June, according to the Pentagon, there are, as of yet, no firm details on where the troops might be redeployed or exactly when this would happen, although The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump issued a September deadline.
The U.S. military presence in Germany — by far the largest in Europe, with both U.S. European and African commands currently based in the country — is a legacy of post-World War Two Allied occupation.
Over the intervening decades, multiple generations of American military members and their families have created strong ties with surrounding German communities as far afield as Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Bamberg, or Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the far south of Bavaria.
Therefore, the potential move has caused concern in Germany — economic, political, and ecclesial.
A mass move not only means logistical challenges for the U.S. military — finding new homes for troops and their families, building up local infrastructure like schools and hospitals at smaller posts, and transferring civil servants to different missions — but also potential church closures, missionaries without active calls, and shifting church populations.