CHESAPEAKE, Va. ––Cathy Disher, affiliated with Military Missions Network, has always had a special appreciation for men and women serving in the military.
Her father was a Marine who served in Korea in the 1950s, and her U.S. Army (National Guard) nephew served in Iraq, 2003-2004.
While her nephew was in Iraq, Disher sent him a birthday present ~ a pewter shield on dog tags with a passage from the first chapter of Joshua: “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
Disher’s father died November 9, 2003. Her nephew chose to share the Joshua passage at the eulogy. The following year Disher’s stepmother sent her several items belonging to her father, among them was one of the original copies of Strength for Service to God and Country, a book her father received from his mother and father while he was stationed at Parris Island, S.C., in 1945.
“I never knew my father possessed this book, and it is now one of my greatest treasures,” she said.
“After I received the book, I immediately turned to the meditation for November 9, the day my father died.
“The scripture reading was Joshua 1:9; the very same passage I shared with my nephew and that he shared at my father’s funeral. Amazing, simply amazing!”
Disher is a graduate of Michigan State University (B.A. in music/music therapy), Southeastern Bible College (B.A. in biblical studies) and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div. in biblical counseling).
She has always felt a call to a ministry to the military, and while she was studying at the Baptist seminary in Louisville, she worked with “Operation Appreciation” at Fort Knox, Ky. and served as a Chaplain Student intern at the Robley Rex Veterans Hospital in Louisville, Ky. These experiences served to deepen her love for military ministry.
In January, she became affiliated with the Military Missions Network, a network of evangelical churches, chaplains and para-church ministries ministering to military members and families worldwide.