A Hattiesburg church opened its doors today to Tennessee national guardsmen who are taking a much-needed break from training at Camp Shelby. Dozens of members of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment visited Central Baptist Church for an afternoon lunch and fellowship with church members.

The soldiers, who have been training at Camp Shelby for several weeks in preparation for Operation Iraqi Freedom, have a few hours off this weekend and many chose to spend part of their time at the church, eating homecooked meals and enjoying some Hub City hospitality. "I think it's pretty excellent," said Specialist Donald Michael. "I'm a Baptist myself, so having another church that I don't even belong to do this for us is pretty great for the wives and our families," he said. "The guys whose families didn't come down got to come and eat and hang out away from Camp Shelby and the routine of training," said Michael's wife, Tiffany Michael. "That's really good and it brought the families together a little bit, too," she said.

Church Associate Pastor Sammy Popwell says today's meal is the beginning of a new outreach ministry for soldiers at Camp Shelby. He said he hopes to see many of the guardsmen again in the coming weeks. "Hopefully on Friday nights, have a home-cooked meal for the ones that would like to come out and have a Bible study and a time of fellowship, board games, things like that for them," Popwell said. "We also want to minister to the families of these military men and women that are being separated from their family to serve our country," he said.

Pastor Popwell himself knows the feelings of these families as they are separated from their loved ones. His son-in-law is currently in Iraq serving with the Marines. But, he's due to come home in September. The 278th is scheduled to train at Camp Shelby for several more weeks.

Story Copyright 2004 WDAM