Chad Williams
By Suzanne O'Keeffe, 700 Club Interactive
CBN.com –"I WANT TO BE A NAVY SEAL"
Even with the loving direction of his parents trying to guide Chad Williams, he still chose the route of drugs, alcohol, and reckless behavior. They attended church as a family but as his parent's faith deepened, Chad became disenchanted. He said it was too much "like school". He believed in God but not from a personal relationship. God was who you went to when you were in trouble and needed help. Seeing no reason to change his behavior Chad spent his teen years in rebellion. With every stunt he pulled, drinking and driving, sneaking into Clubs where he was underage, etc. and getting away with it, Chad began to believe he was "invincible." As time passed none of his antics could erase Chad's feelings of being nobody. One day after getting high in his truck, he began to ponder just what he would do with his life, it needed to be something "big". Being a Navy SEAL was not a new idea, he had been interested in being one since he was young. "I'm going to become a SEAL" was the decision made.
BECOMING A SEAL
Chad had a mentor to help prepare him, former Navy SEAL Scott Helvenston. He prepared Chad through rigorous training. Days before leaving for boot camp he saw on the news that Scott, who had gone back to Iraq under Blackwater USA, had suffered a brutal murder being ambushed by Iraqi insurgents. This only increased his desire to be a SEAL and take revenge on those who had killed Scott. Chad describes how following in his mentor's footsteps, completing the program and being one of 13 from the class of 173 to graduate began the work of God transforming him. Chad soon realized even after completing the advanced Seal Training, being combat ready and accomplishing "my big thing", he still found himself disappointed and feeling that something was missing. Still seeking to fill that empty place, Chad was bent on throwing all caution to the wind and became a man who liked to get drunk, get into a brawl, and all with no regrets.
CHANGED PLANS
Trying to manipulate his parents to make his plans for partying work, Chad agreed to go to their church crusade where Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Ca. was the guest speaker. What happened next no one but God could have orchestrated. Greg Laurie began to teach about a commander named Naaman and how he had to strip down and dip himself in a river to be made clean. This was a man Chad could relate to as a fellow soldier being in the military.
As Greg spoke to the crowd he said, "Maybe you're a person who puts on a tough outer shell, but inside you know things aren't right", Chad found himself convicted and then his hand went up in response to a salvation call. He walked to the altar and accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior that night. Instantly he resolved to give up all his partying and rebellion. His heart had changed; the desire to evangelize became the first place of his heart and being a Navy SEAL diminished. The reaction from the SEAL team he was attached to was ferocious. No longer willing to go to strip clubs or get drunk with them, they turned on him in anger and resentment. There was one night of hazing he actually feared for his life.
HOPE
Chad had to fight hard for his faith while still a SEAL and from the things he went through, he has a deeper understanding of Jesus' love and great sacrifice of His life for us. Today he draws on the extensive and grueling training, his experiences of frontline war and the horrors he saw in order to help people understand this scripture,"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." At the closing of this book, Chad encourages us to know that becoming a Christian does not guarantee an easy walk. In fact, life could become more difficult but he understands and reminds us we are not called to stand alone. We are all in this together. Jesus is with us and there is a reward eternally for trusting our lives to Him, it Jesus. Jesus is our great reward!
Chad served in the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Iraqi. On the tour in Iraqi he survived an ambush near the same place that Scott Helvenston had been killed. He served in the military from 2004 to 2010 and is proud to have been a Navy SEAL serving his country.
Chad and his wife Aubrey live in Huntington Beach, California.