September 2024: The global military community; veteran involvement in OCF; and OCF ministry news
Release Date: 09/11/2024
“No perfect leaders, no perfect lives”: Five common qualities of Biblical leaders / November 2025
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
OCF MINISTRY NEWS If you are interested in this opportunity at White Sulphur Springs (Manns Choice, Pa.), contact WSS Center Director Paul Robyn (wssdirector@ocfusa.org) or WSS Director of Hospitality Susanne Pappal (wssoffice@ocfusa.org) or call (814) 623-5583 for further information and an application. Your gift—large or small—directly provides opportunities for widowed members of the OCF family to find comfort, community, and Christ-centered encouragement at our Conference Centers. Visit ocfusa.org/givingtuesday to learn more and donate now. Register for a...
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Leadership Micro-series: A leader’s responsibility to care for people / Crosspoint Highlights
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
In the final episode of this Crosspoint Highlights micro-series on leadership, Col Jassen Bluto, USAF (Ret.), shares his third core principle—caring—and what it truly means to care for the people you lead. Far from being sentimental, Bluto explains that genuine care is a leader’s responsibility to meet both the physical and emotional needs of those under their command. Drawing from his military experience, he shares how simple, compassionate acts—like ensuring subordinates have proper equipment or recognizing when someone needs time to regroup—can transform a unit’s morale and...
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Leadership Micro-series: Four attributes of respect / Crosspoint Highlights
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
In part two of this Crosspoint Highlights micro-series on leadership, Col Jassen Bluto, USAF (Ret.), explores the second core principle—respect—and breaks it down into four key expressions: respect for your unit, for each other, for yourself, and for the authority entrusted to you. He explains that genuine respect begins with love for the people you serve alongside and extends to humility in how you lead them. Bluto cautions against the pride that can accompany rank or privilege, urging leaders instead to see their authority as a responsibility to mentor, develop, and care for others....
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Leadership Micro-series: Being a trustworthy leader / Crosspoint Highlights
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
In this first part of the Crosspoint Highlights micro-series on leadership, Col Jassen Bluto, USAF (Ret.), unpacks the foundational principle of trust. He explains that true leadership requires both character and competence: the moral integrity that inspires confidence and the professional skill that earns respect. Drawing from personal experience as a squadron commander, Bluto discusses how accountability, care for people, and technical excellence work together to build trust within a team. He shares real-life examples of mentoring, correction, and difficult personnel decisions, showing that...
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"Good leadership lifts others”: Practical truths for Biblical leadership, Part 1 / October 2025
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
OCF MINISTRY NEWS Keep an eye out for this fall’s Connected print newsletter: A digital copy of the newsletter is also available online at ocfusa.org/connected Serve as the ministry support volunteer position: Check out the full volunteer listing for details and the application. Calling all female cadets & mids: Connect with your peers via OCF Sisters in Service’s monthly Zoom calls. Find out more on SIS’ Instagram: Register for a Winter Retreat session at one of OCF’s Conference Centers: 20-27...
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Bridges instead of islands: The state of the military sisterhood / September 2025
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
OCF MINISTRY NEWS Check out and attend any of these local events: Aspentime Retreat: 26-28 September at Spring Canyon (Buena Vista, Colo.) BBQ Bonanza: 3-4 October at Fort Leavenworth (Kan.) OCF Hampton Roads Region Annual Fall Picnic: 4 October at Fort Monroe, Va. USNA Fall Retreat: 10-13 October at White Sulphur Springs (Manns Choice, Pa.) OCF Mid-Atlantic Fall Retreat: 14-16 November at White Sulphur Springs (Manns Choice, Pa.) Start an OCF small group: Read Rich's...
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Military Brats React: What makes the difference in raising military kids
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
Show Notes In this second part of “Military Brats React,” host Courtney Burdick continues the roundtable conversation with 2LT Dani Volle, USA, ENS Mary Ann Leonard, USN, and Matt Taylor as they reflect on their experiences growing up in military families. While the first part of the discussion centered on the challenges and mental health struggles faced by military kids, this episode shifts to the “strengths-based perspective”—seeing the good that can come out of a hard, transient lifestyle—. Have thoughts or want to share your own experience? Reach out to...
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Military Brats React: Mental health, faith, and finding strength
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
In a recent Crosspoint episode, In this follow-up conversation, Courtney Burdick hosts three fellow military kids—2LT Dani Volle, USA, ENS Mary Ann Leonard, USN, and Matt Taylor—for a roundtable-style reaction episode. Having met at they discuss stories from their respective military kid experiences, thoughts on Claire’s research, and more. Have thoughts or want to share your own experience? Reach out to Courtney at courtney.burdick@ocfusa.org. If you would like to share your own story, Alternatively, if you have an idea for a guest or topic we should consider for a...
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Faithful Leadership: You won’t get this perfect—and that’s OK
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
The July episode of Crosspoint served as Part 1 of a conversation with LTC Lee Robinson, USA, director of the U.S. Military Academy’s American Politics Program and an academy professor in the Department of Social Sciences. We began answering this overarching question—"What does it look like to follow Christ in uniform, when your faith is personal, your authority is public, and the Constitution sets the boundaries?” In Part 2 we continue this timely discussion on how Christian military leaders can live out their faith with integrity, while respecting the pluralism of today’s armed...
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“Just see God at work”: Prioritizing Biblical mentorship / August 2025
OCF Crosspoint Podcast
OCF MINISTRY NEWS Become findable on the OCF Directory: to add or update your group’s information on our online directory of Bible studies. Apply for Spring Canyon’s Deputy Center Director opening: and apply NLT 15 August. Check out our new Widowed Ministry webpage: helpful resources, invitations to fellowship, and scholarship funding for summer programs at the Conference Centers. GUEST SPOTLIGHT Why is mentoring important to the Christian in the military? Answering that question and others in this episode are COL Jim Brown, USA (Ret.), and...
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Fort Knox OCF update: Continue praying for the ROTC cadets as they’ve returned to their campuses and begun new semesters. To learn more about and/or get involved with OCF’s ROTC ministry, visit ocfusa.org/rotc
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Connected print newsletters: If you don’t receive this biannual piece in your mailbox this fall, be sure to update your info via ocfusa.org/update so that we don’t miss you next spring. This fall’s newsletter will also be available online at ocfusa.org/connected
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Ted & Beverly Kaiser: Contact this newest couple on the OCF team by emailing europe@ocfusa.org
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OCF Mid-Atlantic & Northeast Fall Retreat: Visit whitesulphursprings.org/events to learn more and register, and email any questions to the Chiaravallottis at midatlantic@ocfusa.org.
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The Bowens’ Fort Carson OCF group: Visit ocfusa.org/directory to connect with groups like the Bowens’, and visit ocfusa.org/list-me to start your own group wherever you are.
ASK OCF
COL Steve & Miriam Shambach, USA (Ret.), who serve as the OCF Mountain Central Regional Coordinator couple, answered this question from another OCFer: Retired, I don't live near a military base, no local OCF folks near me...what opportunity is there for fellowship/training through Zoom?
In case you missed the Shambachs’ article in the spring 2024 issue of Connected print newsletter, you can find it here: From Service to Support: How Veterans Can Stay Engaged in OCF.
If you have a question that you want us to consider for a future “Ask OCF” segment, send an email to podcast@ocfusa.org.
GUEST SPOTLIGHT
COL Andy MacLean, USA (Ret.), graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1995 and later returned there to be a professor. After retiring in 2019, he joined the Association for Christian Conferences, Teaching, and Services (ACCTS), a sister ministry of OCF. He currently serves as the ACCTS coordinator for Latin America.
Whether discussing the origin story of ACCTS, the countries he works with as an ACCTS staffer, or his own life, Andy’s passion for sharing how God works in the details is clear. He talks about the upcoming AMCF World Conference, approaching this October in Brazil, which you can support by attending, praying for the gathering, and/or contributing to a scholarship for other guests.
If you would like to share your own story, complete the form on OCF’s “Be a Guest” webpage. Alternatively, if you have an idea for a guest or topic we should consider for a future episode of the show, send an email to podcast@ocfusa.org.
POINTS TO PONDER
As you listen to this conversation with Andy, here are a few questions to ponder in your personal time, with a small group, or with a mentor:
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How can you engage in the international ministry ACCTS does?
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When have you seen God work through hard situations, whether in your own life or in events across the world?
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Why is it important to discuss how God is working in other nation’s military communities?