USA (MNN) — Spiritual basic training? That's what the 239th battalion in the Fort Jackson Army Training Center in North Carolina is doing with the help of the JESUS Film Project .
Frank Bussey invites recruits to see the film in their fifth and sixth weeks of training since they are allowed more free time then. By advertising the free Sunday afternoon film with posters, 200 to 300 soldiers attend each showing voluntarily. Between 20 and 30 recruits trust Jesus each time and often thank Bussey after the film.
Bussey offers the showing 5 times each year as each cycle of recruits goes through.
His connection to the military began almost seven years ago with his participation in Campus Crusade for Christ's Military Mission. Through volunteering with the army chaplains, he began a Sunday school class for recruits in the battalion called "God's Basic Training." Bussey notes, "I'm trying to give them the basics of Christianity starting from absolute scratch." Each Sunday 50 to 250 recruits attend this class.
Later he started showing the JESUS film, which ties in well with his Sunday school class. It helps recruits who are new believers see images of the Jesus they are learning about and committing their life to.
