Finding Faith in the Desert : Spiritual Lessons and Insights from Operation Iraqi Freedom

n May 2003, Captain Anthony Horton of the 1st Military Intelligence Battalion received a phone call that would change his life. He was told to pack his bags; he was being reassigned to a unit that had just deployed to Iraq, and the group needed a Chaplain. He soon took a flight straight to Baghdad International Airport and began an emotional spiritual adventure, ministering to American soldiers and to the people of Baghdad, Iraq.

Chaplain Horton quickly met Iraqi families who claimed ancestral lineage to the ancient Chaldeans and Assyrians. One particular group he became familiar with was a group of people claiming to be the original Iraqis, a remnant of those ancient people of Ur, where Abraham dwelt. This group calls themselves the Mandaeans and practice a religion they believe was handed down from Adam to Abraham to John the Baptist.

Wherever Chaplain Horton traveled in Iraq, he spent time among the people, discussing religion and God’s plan of happiness for all of His children. In some of these communities, Chaplain Horton became close friends with the people, being invited into their humble homes to eat from their tables or floors.

After his arrival in the Mideast, Chaplain Horton was also set apart by the Arabian Peninsula Stake President in Kuwait to serve as the 13th member of that Stake High Council, giving him ecclesiastical authority to organize Servicemen’s Groups and to lead soldiers in weekly sacrament services, not to mention the many hours spent providing counsel and advice to many U.S. soldiers—both LDS and non-LDS—from the various units stationed in Iraq. His account of the many individual miracles among the U.S. soldiers is truly inspirational.

This account and accompanying photos give readers a better understanding of the conditions and struggles the Iraqi people are enduring. Chaplain Horton and other soldiers have been participants in the miraculous opening of the minds and hearts of the Iraqi people, preparing them for the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Chaplain Anthony W. Horton served in Iraq with the 40th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armor Division.