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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\u201cWhen I got the cannon, I wanted to take it for a test run,\nand my buddy said, \u2018why not put stuffed monkeys in there instead?\u2019 I thought he\nwas crazy, but when we gave it a try at the concerts, the people in the\naudience went nuts. That\u2019s when I got the name \u2018the Monkey Commando,\u2019\u201d said\nJeff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though not Jeff\u2019s favorite nickname, the Monkey Commando was\nsoon well-known across Southern California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/03\/Untitled-design-4.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\u201cTotally out of the blue, I got a call from a chaplain of a\nmilitary base near us. He asked if the Monkey Commando could come and shoot\nmonkeys to the kids on the base during a concert. I, of course, said yes, and\nthat is what started our connection with the military. Soon we found ourselves\ntraveling to military bases to put on Christian concerts and, of course, shoot stuffed\nmonkeys from the cannon, and Operation Worship began,\u201d said Jeff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While at one of these events, Jeff sat down with the\nchaplain on base and asked him, if the sky was the limit, what would he want\nfor his military personnel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/03\/Untitled-design-6.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\u201cI was floored when he said Bibles. I said, \u2018There are all\nkinds of places you can get free Bibles.\u2019 He said, \u2018But those aren\u2019t the kinds\nof Bibles we need.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The chaplain shared three specifics: It must include both Testaments,\nyou have to be able to carry it in your pocket, and the cover needed to be camo\nto match uniforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m a web guy. I didn\u2019t know anything about publishing\nBibles, but I knew we had to make this happen. Through some friends, I reached\nout to Tyndale House Publishers, and they made the chaplain\u2019s dream come true\u201d\nsaid Jeff. \u201cNot only did it include all the chaplain\u2019s specifications, it was\nin the New Living Translation, which couldn\u2019t be more perfect for this ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/03\/BiblesSmall-1.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe first 25,000 copies of the first edition of the Operation\nWorship Bible in Army camo were sent to Fort Hood. Word spread quickly, and\nwithin a week the Bibles were gone. Since then, more than 1.5 million Operation\nWorship Bibles have been distributed to military personnel around the world.\nThe Bibles are available in camo matching every branch of the military\u2019s uniforms\nand with different unit insignias, signifying that the Word of God is uniquely personal\nfor each one of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most recently, with the help of a donor, Operation Worship was able to give every member of the Belize Defense Force an Operation Worship Bible with the Belize military logo. (see the video)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cU. S. Military chaplains and commanders from all over the\nworld have reached out asking, \u2018Are you the Bible guy? How can I get Bibles?\u2019 They\nknow the importance of this ministry. When you get on a plane or a boat heading\nto who knows where and have no idea what you\u2019ll be facing, you take a closer\nlook at your life and you need the peace that only God gives,\u201d said Jeff. \u201cEach\none of these Bibles is personal, and each person who receives one is precious.\nI hope that when they open that Bible they are able to understand who God is\nand that he has a purpose for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Monkey Commando to Bible Guy, Jeff has let God lead the\nway. Health issues, difficulty finding funding, and discerning the next step has\nbrought Jeff and his wife, Patti, to their knees in prayer, asking for God\u2019s\nleading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe told God, \u2018This is your ministry, not ours. You tell us where\nto go and what to do,\u2019\u201d Jeff explained. \u201cAnd God is always faithful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Operation Worship continues to look for partners to help them put the Word of God into the hands of soldiers all over the world. If you are interested in becoming a part of the Operation Worship story, visit OperationWorship.com.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Jeff Hilliard purchased a T-shirt cannon, he thought he would be blasting shirts into crowds at Christian concerts, not leading a mission to get Bibles into the hands of military personnel across the globe. But what Jeff is keenly aware of is when you leave something in God\u2019s hands\u2014even a T-shirt cannon\u2014he will use […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,31,42,44,48],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5813,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions\/5813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpmu2.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/03\/BiblesWithMonkey2Small.jpg\")
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