INTERVIEW

Russ Lee: On the Frontlines of Faith

By Terry Meeuwsen
The 700 Club

CBN.com – TERRY MEEUWSEN: On any given day, you can turn on the news and see reports of car bombings and terrorist uprising in Iraq. But recording artist Russ Lee has been to the frontlines, and he says that good things are also happening there -- things that you might not see on the news. Russ, we thank you for being with us today.

Russ Lee: Thank you. My pleasure.

TERRY MEEUWSEN: What caused you to go to the frontlines?

Russ Lee: I recorded a song a couple years ago called “Live What I Believe,” and one of the co-writers on this song was a brother-in-law to a chaplain in the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. The soldiers had thought they were coming home before Christmas, and they found out, in fact, they were not. So this chaplain e-mailed his brother-in-law and said, “Do you know a Christian artist who would be crazy enough to come to Iraq right now and just sing and hang out with soldiers in the theater of war?” And so through a series of prayerful events, I ended up in Iraq with the soldiers.

TERRY MEEUWSEN: What was the atmosphere like there?

Russ Lee: Well, it’s very volatile. It’s extremely dangerous. Most people in their early 40s don’t understand what a theater of war is like or what it’s like to live in a culture of war. It was a unique experience from that perspective. But it was also just fantastic for me. I tell people that I came home and I had to eat a little crow, but I like how it tasted. Because I saw a lot of 19- and 20-year-old heroes, young men and women with great character and great passion who were on a mission and very focused. It renewed my confidence in the hands that we’re leaving this nation in, the ones who are coming behind us. So it was a great experience from that perspective.

TERRY MEEUWSEN: What did you see that’s not being reported on the news that might surprise us.

Russ Lee: I think one of the biggest things was to see how the soldiers are interacting with the Iraqi people. There are 400-plus medical clinics that are open in villages around Iraq now that weren’t allowed to be there before. Thanks to the Chaplains Corps, in cooperation with the U.S. Army, there’s tens of thousands of kids that have been given school supplies that weren’t allowed to go to school before. The water has been purified. The people in Iraq want what you and I want. They want hope and safety for their families and a promise for tomorrow. I watched soldiers work hard, many times to their own detriment, and self-sacrifice. I watched soldiers work to give the Iraq people this. It was amazing to me the difference in what I saw and what I perceived the situation to be based on what I’d seen from a limited perspective.

TERRY MEEUWSEN: In the middle of all of this, what is the troops’ morale like?

Russ Lee: Well, it’s surprisingly high. I expected it to be very low, and I thought there would be grumblings of mutiny around from guys who certainly miss their families and girls who want to be with their children. Everyone I talked to wanted to be home. I don’t know anyone who wanted to be in the war, and yet they understood that it was their duty. And they were so highly trained and so committed that I was awe-inspired by the way that they do their jobs every day. But they do it with more heart than you would ever expect.

TERRY MEEUWSEN: Considering you were there at a holiday, that’s really amazing, because people would want to be home even more at a time like that. What surprised you about what you saw there?

Russ Lee: More than anything, I think I was surprised by the gratitude of the Iraq people and by how the children responded to the soldiers. There was a warmth and a connectedness there. I was also surprised by how effective the chaplains are and how God is using them tremendously in this place. I came away feeling like that war is horrible and it’s difficult, and yet, because of what’s happened in the Middle East, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has greater opportunities in Iraq than it’s ever had. And a lot of it has to do with the benevolence of Westerners who just come into this theocratic society and love on people and do their job and put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of others. There’s no denying that.

TERRY MEEUWSEN: Well, moms and dads and husbands and wives have given their loved ones to the cause of this. How did this change you, I mean, to go over from the world that we live in that’s so comfortable and a career that you’re working hard at, to go over and see that kind of stark reality? How did that affect you?

Russ Lee: Well, I’ve been a Christian for many years. Twenty-five years next year. I’ll celebrate being a born-again follower of Christ. And through that time, had the privilege of being in ministry. I’ve traveled with several music groups and have been in ministry and evangelism for years and years. And it really rekindled my passion, and it reminded me of how awesome it is to serve a God who’s willing to lay it all on the line for us and demonstrate His love for us the way that Christ Jesus did. I saw these soldiers making sacrifices, and I thought, “These are people that don’t have the greater cause that I have and that I own.” A lot of these guys don’t understand that, and one of the reasons I went was to help them understand that. But also, I came away reminded of how important it is to be committed to the task at hand. Because, as you know, we are in the spiritual war.

TERRY MEEUWSEN: Amen.

Russ Lee: We’re on the winning side.

TERRY MEEUWSEN: There’s a lot of parallels, aren’t there?

Russ Lee: That’s right. Absolutely. I think I really was reminded of the parallels of the battle that we’re engaged in for the souls of men.