Pamela Burr

"As a former military member, I can appreciate the gift of service that you [the military] are providing to our country and to the world. I also understand the conflicts and challenges that life presents you on a daily basis. It is my sincere hope that The Urantia Book will touch the hearts and souls of many and will personally provide you with the answers to the deeper meanings of the purpose of life, as it has done for me. Thank you for your service to our planet. Peace be with you."
—Lt Col (ret) Pamela L. Burr, USAF

Paula Thompson

"Dissemination of The Urantia Book is the Fellowship's mission. . . . These young people are out there mostly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many witness death and destruction regularly. They represent some of the finest young men and women on the planet—idealistic young people, willing to lay their lives down. They are caught between their ideals of duty and the ugly reality of war. They are certainly questioning and praying for answers. Imagine the joy of their angels to know that it may be possible now to lead some of them to The Urantia Book. As the old saying goes, 'There are no atheists in the foxholes.'"
—Paula Thompson, Director of The Urantia Book Fellowship

CONTRIBUTIONS

To make secure, tax-deductible credit card donations via the Fellowship's website,
click here

Or mail earmarked checks to:
The Urantia Book Fellowship
PO Box 4583
Grand Central Station
New York, NY 10163
1-877-288-3772 
www.UrantiaBook.org

STUDY RESOURCES

• Read The Urantia Book online
• Listen to or download the audio version
• Participate in a live online UB study session with Chris Halvorson Fridays 7:30 PM Mountain Time [audio only]
• Listen to Cosmic Citizen BlogTalk Radio, Saturday mornings at 11:00 AM Central Time
• U.S. Study Group Directory
• Urantia Book Related Websites

Operation Reach Back

by Lt Col (ret) Pamela L. Burr, USAF and Paula Thompson, Director UB Fellowship

Operation Reach Back is a UB outreach program implemented by former military member Pamela Burr and sponsored by The Urantia Book Fellowship through the aid of many volunteers, to provide a loving service for dedicated men and women serving in the military on behalf of our planet, Urantia

PAMELA BURR: According to The Urantia Book, our planet "is now quivering on the very brink of one of its most amazing and enthralling epochs of social readjustment, moral quickening, and spiritual enlightenment." (195:9.2) This is very apparent to men and women in the military who face the struggles of daily life at deployed locations with the many unique challenges that affords.   

Why does the military population, specifically, need The Urantia Book at this time? The 6-16-2008 Time Magazine cover story reported:

For the first time in history, a sizable and growing number of U.S. combat troops are taking daily doses of antidepressants to calm nerves strained by repeated and lengthy tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.” About 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq and 17 percent of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope.

The U.S. Army reported in May that the suicide rate among its soldiers continued to rise last year, and is now nearly double the rate recorded before the invasion of Iraq. That is a rate of nearly 19 per 100,000 soldiers. The rate was just under 10 per 100,000 in 2002, before the Iraq invasion. The Army Surgeon General's office acknowledges that the stress of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a part of the reason for the rising suicide rate in the Army.

The Urantia Book is a genuine revelation for modern thinking people and civilizations. It provides unique answers to the big questions: Who are we? Where do we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going?—answers that can be found nowhere else. The writings in The Urantia Book instruct us on the genesis, history, and destiny of humanity and on our relationship with God the Father. They present a unique and compelling portrayal of the life and teachings of Jesus. They open new vistas of time and eternity to the human spirit, and offer new details of our ascending adventure in a friendly and carefully administered universe. Readers of The Urantia Book report how it has profoundly affected them and often changed their lives. It has inspired them to reach new levels of spiritual growth and enhanced their sense of the value of human life.

Now is the time for young military men and women to be given the hope, purpose and direction abundantly available provided by The Urantia Book.  

PAULA THOMPSON: The concept is amazingly simple. As a person who has recently retired from active duty, Pamela knows that there are military "point people" who represent each military unit that is deployed around the world. It's very common for groups like ours to gift these deployed units with all kinds of needful things like bug spray, Bibles, personal items, candy, coffee, etc. These point people receive the donated items for their unit and distribute them accordingly. The database of military members that Pamela obtained access to was created by a retired military person who has dedicated his time and energy to creating the "any soldier" program which matches soldier requests with volunteers who might be able to fulfill these requests. These "any solider" addresses have restricted access for OP SEC (operational security) purposes. Anyone can get up to two addresses at any one time. Pamela gained special permission to their entire database because she presented her Reach Back program to them and they liked it, and because she has been an avid supporter of the "any soldier" program. Pamela culled through the list looking for units that had requested prayers, higher guidance, religious books and reading materials. She came up with 900 names of point people who specifically requested things of a religious nature. Over thirty of the people on Pam's list are military Chaplains. This task alone took Pamela seventeen straight hours.
 
Pam now had the names and address labels all ready to go and all she needed was 900 Urantia Books. So, she called the Fellowship and requested them, and the Executive Committee granted her request. As a result, 900 books and 900 bubble-wrap mailing envelopes were shipped to Pamela. As of early September 2008 she had already sent out more than 500 books. [UPDATE: 900 books have been placed as of mid-November 2008. Click here for special THANK YOU with details from Pamela--ED.]

When these military men and women are not “forward deployed” (as Pam would say), they are sitting in a tent or barracks somewhere waiting around for orders and, being in a foreign land far away from the familiar haunts of home, there is not much to do. Bearing in mind that each point person represents a unit of people, consisting of at least ten and maybe many as hundreds, these 900 books have the potential to be seen or read by thousands!
 
The Urantia Book Fellowship is paying for the books, the shipping materials and the postage to APOs around the world. The total cost, all things considered, is in the neighborhood of $15,000. The Fellowship is accepting donations and has already received $4,700—enough to pay for some of the books and all of the postage and packaging materials. To contribute, see column at left.

PAMELA: Making The Urantia Book available was just the beginning. The real value of this military outreach program is Operation Reach Back, which provides the mechanism for military men and women to be able to reach back and connect with other Urantia Book readers and study groups. In the military, when a member receives orders to report to a new location they are assigned a “sponsor” at that location who helps ease their transition.

PAULA: Along this same line, the Fellowship's webmaster, David Kantor, is helping Pam to create a message board that will be manned by volunteers who will be there to answer the questions of any military people who end up reading the book and wish to reach back for help in understanding it. She also hopes to gather a list of readers who would like to serve as pen pals. Pam is coordinating the entire effort.

PAMELA: The Reach-Back Buddy Board and Urantia study groups are there to help connect military members/units with Urantia Book friends who will help them “transition” into the book. These groups and contact people are available to help facilitate an understanding of the deeper lessons of The Urantia Book.   

These long-term Urantia Book readers will make themselves available to new readers who are “alone out there” and may require assistance or support with understanding the book. Members who would like to connect with Urantia Book readers on a deeper level can participate in our Reach-Back Buddy Board for immediate help with questions about the book or they can go directly our U.S. Study Group Directory to find contact people in their state.

Operation Reach Back facilitates a spiritual connection, allowing new Urantia Book readers to unite with experienced readers to mutually quench their spiritual hunger!  

Contact Pamela