As Operation Iraqi Freedom developed into a full-scale war, America's churches were quick to show support for our troops. Congregations throughout the United States mobilized prayer warriors. They rallied members to write letters and put together care packages for the soldiers and sailors so far away from home and the luxuries our country affords them.

For a story I wrote on the subject, I had the pleasure to talk with Christians who were excited about the opportunity to minister to soldiers. One, Marilyn Horn, told me how her husband, a Vietnam veteran, felt so isolated by a nation divided over U.S. involvement there.

Her church, First Baptist Church of Springdale in Springdale, Ark., sprang into action, gathering names of soldiers. They invited members to "adopt" soldiers and their families so they would not feel the isolation - even condemnation - so many Vietnam-era soldiers and their families knew.

Chaplain Maj. David Coram of Fort Campbell, Ky., told me how he wept upon reading a letter from his wife detailing a simple act of kindness while he ministered to troops in the field during Operation Desert Storm. It seems the post chaplain, a full-bird colonel, showed up at Coram's house to fix a burned-out taillight on his wife's car because he wasn't there to do it himself. Knowing that his wife was being looked after while he was so far away ministered to him more powerfully than any of the letters or care packages he received.

To that I add my amen. Family members are frequently the overlooked participants in wars.

They need our love and support. They need to know they are not alone. They need someone to look in on them until their loved ones return.

Some, sadly, will need more.

I can tell you from personal experience that some of these families are going to need our love and support for years to come because their soldier simply isn't going to come home.

I was 7 years old when the Western Union man visited our home on Sept. 4, 1965, to inform my family that my father, SFC Thomas H. Botts, had been killed in Vietnam. Though it was long ago, I still vividly remember the unnamed messenger (it would be a few years before the military started sending service representatives to deliver such news) standing in our doorway, rain dripping from the brim of his hat, his dark raincoat giving him an appropriately ominous appearance. The funeral, with more rain and the sharp crack of a 21-gun salute, is still fresh in my memory.

I only vaguely remember receiving a fruit basket from the school my sister, brother and I attended.

After that, it's pretty much a blur. No Army buddies stopping by to see how my mother and her five small children were getting on. The neighbors were uncomfortable about what to say or do. Ditto for the teachers.

That's not criticism. In 1965, Vietnam was an obscure place and our involvement there was minimal. (As the war escalated and casualties mounted, things didn't get much better, but that's grist for another day.)

Still, I wish now there had been a church to adopt my family. I wish some godly man had taken an interest in my life back then to show me the joy and rewards of righteousness.

That is the opportunity Operation Iraqi Freedom presents to Christian men and women who want to show their love. I pray to God - and realistically expect - there will be considerably fewer children like me needing surrogate fathers to fill the void war left in their lives.

But, if just one child is set on a righteous path because of a godly influence, I suspect there will be much rejoicing in heaven.

Pray for the safety of our troops. Minister to them and care for their families until they return. Think about Chaplain Coram and how he was comforted when war was waged around him just knowing his wife was not suffering needlessly by his absence.

That is a legitimate role of the church.

Remember, also, that we have a responsibility to care for the families of those who do not come home.

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." - James 1:27 (NRSV)