SASRA has an open door to military bases. We interview Andrew Hill, who has recently been appointed to head the work.
en: What is your own background in the Armed Forces?
AH: I joined the Royal Air Force as a Fighter Controller in 1984, and served for 22 years, principally producing what is called the ‘Recognised Air Picture’. For those who have seen films like Battle of Britain I was something like the officer with the telephones who sits at a raised desk looking down over the map of Britain surrounded by airwomen with long poles pushing plaques about. By my day it was all done using computers!
en: How did you become a Christian?
AH: At secondary school as a prefect I reported several of my peers for smoking in contravention of school rules. Somewhat to my surprise this made me a universal hate object, and prompted questions in my mind like: ‘who has the right to make and enforce rules?’ and ‘who decides what is right or wrong?’.
I asked one of the school chaplains if he had something I could read on the subject and he lent me a copy of Runaway World by Michael Green. Packing to go on a geography field trip I took an occult novel by Dennis Wheatley, but on unpacking in the Lake District found that I had ‘mistakenly’ packed the Christian book. I had nothing else to read, and so made my way through it. At the age of 17 it was the first time I had a clear explanation of why Jesus died on the cross. I didn’t become a believer then, but decided that when I got to university I would look out for Christians and speak with them. This I did, and the Lord graciously met me and regenerated me at my first CU meeting on my first Saturday at university.
en: What did you find most difficult standing for Christ among military men?
AH: In 1984 there was still a strong ‘work hard, play hard’ attitude in the RAF, which roughly translated into heavy drinking and womanising. ‘Detachment rules’ meant that by common agreement marital unfaithfulness and other moral ‘lapses’ away from home were kept secret.
Failure to abide by these norms made you both an outsider and an object of suspicion – it would mean that others couldn’t ‘trust’ you, which in military operations is essential. Issues of my faith made it into annual reports – once there was criticism of my willingness to believe in special creation when everyone knew that science explained the origins of everything. Another report commented that I was a ‘religious extremist’ who had no place in the RAF. These were quite difficult challenges because of the direct effect they had on career prospects. The situation is a little easier now because the closed reporting system of my day has been replaced by an open one, and you are free to challenge comments made by reporting officers.
en: You are now SASRA Executive Director. Tell us what SASRA does and your vision for it in the future.
AH: The Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Scripture Readers Association (SASRA) has been involved in evangelistic outreach to the Armed Forces since 1838. At that time many soldiers were illiterate, and so our missionaries literally read the Scriptures to them. SASRA has been given the great task of befriending ‘Service men and women with a view to their spiritual welfare, by introducing them to a practical experience of the Christian faith, as the basis of character and morale’. We have two charters, granted by the Ministry of Defence and sponsored by the chaplaincy departments of the Army and the Air Force, which formally endorse our aims, and since 1913 we have enjoyed Royal Patronage – Her Majesty the Queen is our current Patron.
This means that our Scripture Readers, who wear uniform and have the equivalent status of Warrant Officers, are able to enter military establishments in order to engage in personal evangelism. Jesus commands his church to go into all the world and make disciples, and we serve local churches by being able to go where the general public can’t.
Our vision for the future is to expand our work so that we can place Scripture Readers in all the main Army and RAF bases. The Government is currently withdrawing our forces from Germany and forming large military bases in the UK. This is a great opportunity for us to establish evangelical witness amongst our Service personnel. They are expected to go in harm’s way on our behalf, so it is vital that they hear the gospel. The MOD also recognises that our personnel need a robust ‘moral compass’ so that right decisions are made under extreme conditions, and the Christian faith is foundation-al for this. Additionally, some personnel are drawn from areas of British society that the church finds it very difficult to reach, so our Readers have great gospel opportunities. Because of the large numbers of young recruits joining the Services, SASRA can claim to have the largest Christian youth work in Europe.
en: You have a special event coming up at Colchester. Tell us about it.
AH: The plan is to deploy Army Scripture Reader William Wade to the Colchester Garrison this summer. Colchester is home to 16 Air Assault Brigade, a rapid response airborne formation, made up of parachute and airmobile units, and is the only airborne brigade in the British Army. We have two evening presentations in May to which we are inviting local church leaders; we are planning a supporters’ event for the end of June and, Lord willing, a commissioning service for William at the start of September. A month later we are planning to deploy a further Reader to the Inverness area to work in local military units. These are exciting opportunities for us to work with local churches and believers to enable the proclamation of the gospel in military bases.
en: How can EN readers get behind the work of SASRA?
AH: Firstly, please pray. We depend on the agreement and support of military chaplains and senior officers for the work to go ahead, and we are in a spiritual battle. Secondly, please support us financially. Although we have official sanction we receive no government funding – we must even purchase uniforms ourselves. Thirdly, if you know of anyone serving in the Army or Air Force who could be helped by the ministry of SASRA please put us in touch with them. Finally, if you are able, and particularly if you live near a military base, please support and encourage our Scripture Readers in their missionary work. If your church would like a visit from an Area Representative please get in touch and we will be delighted to make the arrangements.
