The troops still need our support...

A U.S. navy chaplain is urging Americans to continue their support and prayers for U.S. troops in Iraq.

Lieutenant Carey Cash tells AP's "Religion Roundup": "I think perhaps it's even more stressful now than it was when I was there, because now the men aren't having to contend with a known enemy, now it's the civilian that's got a bomb strapped to his back, and more than anything else I think what they need to hear from the American people is we love you, we're supporting you, we are still praying for you, and praying that God would protect you."

Cash is now back home with his family at Camp Pendleton, California. In a soon-to-be-released book, "A Table in the Presence," Cash recounts his experiences with a Marine unit in Kuwait. He rejoices at having baptised 57 new Christians during the war--one of them in Saddam Hussein's palace!

This story serves as a needed reminder to me personally that the troops serving in harm's way still urgently need our prayers and support.

Click here for a Baptist Press story about Carey Cash, and here for an ABC news story about chaplains in the Iraq war.