This Veterans Day, Lancaster Bible College salutes all who have bravely and selflessly served our country, including many LBC students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends throughout the decades.
Chaplain Kyle Lambertson (’14), Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, is just one LBC alumnus who is living out his calling in the U.S. military. Currently on active duty in Cherry Point, N.C., he will depart for a new post on the coast of Japan in January 2025.
A Chargers soccer player and Intercultural Studies major while at LBC, Kyle met his wife, Monica (Horning ’15) at the college. She was also a standout soccer student-athlete and was inducted into the LBC Athletics Hall of Honor in 2022.
After LBC, Kyle attended Columbia International University and earned his Master of Divinity degree in 2019. That fall, he began a post as a church pastor to gain some of the experience necessary to become a Navy Chaplain.
“When I graduated from Lancaster Bible College, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” he remembered. “God and I had many conversations about that leading up to graduation. It was in the year after graduation where I really felt that God called me to military chaplaincy, then specifically to the Navy Chaplain Corps.”
Kyle had a heart for U.S. Marines and, as a Navy Chaplain, would have the opportunity to work with not only sailors but also Marines and Coast Guardsmen.
But before those plans were solidified, the idea of military chaplaincy “popped up” many times over several weeks. Kyle then faced a moment while on an overseas trip with Monica that served as a turning point. Still enrolled at LBC, Monica was completing her college cross-cultural degree requirements, and Kyle went on the trip as well since they were already married.
During that two-week LBC TraveLearn trip to Turkey and Greece, Kyle had a Gideon moment, where he “put the fleece out there” and prayed.
“I said, ‘God, if this is something you want me to pursue further, have military chaplaincy pop up somewhere while we’re thousands of miles away from home,” he said. “I kind of forgot about my prayer, honestly, for most of the trip. [Then] toward the very end of our trip, we were in the city of Philippi on a hot, dusty day. That morning, I remembered, ‘Oh yeah, I was supposed to be praying about this.’ So I prayed the prayer again, asking God to bring military chaplaincy up in a way that [would serve as a] clear call.
“We were leaving the old part of the city, walking back to the tour bus,” he continued. “No one was really talking. One of the other students and I were friends but not super close. She just out of the blue asked me, ‘Kyle, have you ever thought about joining the military?’ I got chills up and down my spine because I [didn’t] know how much more clear that could be.”
Navy Chaplain Kyle (’14) and Monica (’15) Lambertson
After talking and praying with Monica, Kyle began pursuing his military path. Together, the Lambertsons followed the steps God laid out for them.
Coming from a relatively small college, Kyle was interested in the tight-knit culture of the Marines or Navy. As a Navy Chaplain, he’s now able to serve both Marines and sailors.
“I’ve loved every second of it,” Kyle shared. “Obviously, every job has its ups and downs, but it’s just been a true blessing to serve—to be able to serve God and serve my country. Right now, I’m at a station chapel so my week to week, my day to day, kind of looks like being a pastor at a church. My office is at the chapel, but every chance I get, I’m getting out with the Marines.”
Kyle also leads weekend services as well as Bible studies and home groups during the week. Additionally, Marines come to him for counsel throughout the week. And while he loves these one-on-one times, his passion is to be with them in their element. He visits them in their workspaces, works out with them in the mornings and engages with them in MCMAP—the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.
“They do that rain or shine, mud, whatever,” Kyle said. “I love getting out there, doing those sorts of things with them just to build a relationship.”
Because of this intentional relationship-building, Kyle shared that the Marines feel comfortable coming to him about “absolutely everything,” including faith struggles, marriage problems, parenting challenges and even suicidal thoughts.
“This is the one place where we as chaplains have 100% confidential communication,” he said. “So anything that someone tells us, it stays with us. When Marines and sailors don’t know where to go with an issue or if they’re not comfortable going to another counselor, they know the chaplain is the one safe place they can go. Whatever they share isn’t going to be shared anywhere else.
“Oftentimes, because I built the relationship, it leads to gospel conversations down the road,” Kyle added. “I’ve seen that multiple times. When life gets tough, when you’ve cared for them in that moment, even if you don’t get the opportunity to share the gospel then, oftentimes it comes back around, and you get another chance to share the gospel down the road.”
Kyle also has words of encouragement for those who may be searching for direction or where to serve God next.
“Follow His leading, follow His direction,” he said. “Some of my favorite life verses are Proverbs 3:5-6: ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.’ I truly believe God will do that. So for anyone pursuing military chaplaincy, if that’s where you feel called, just follow God one step at a time. He’ll get you that place.”
One of the things Kyle loves most about being a military chaplain is what he calls “the Ministry of Presence,” where he has the privilege of doing life alongside Marines and sailors.
“If you have a heart for reaching people who are lost, and many of them won’t go to a church, then this is a great ministry for you,” he said. “As a chaplain, they come to you simply because you’re the chaplain and they trust you; they know you have that confidentiality—that they can share anything with you. And it’s just very rewarding.”
Kyle knows firsthand what it’s like to experience a calling from the Lord that leads in a vastly different direction than they expected.
“I never expected that I’d be a Navy chaplain,” Kyle shared. “My wife never expected it. When we were students at Lancaster Bible College, she never expected that she’d be the spouse of a Navy chaplain. This wasn’t the life she signed up for. It wasn’t what I was expecting, either.
“But God—as we submit ourselves to His will and to His call, He puts the desire and the passion inside us for the people He’s called us to,” Kyle continued. “And, obviously, there are sacrifices along the way, but God blesses us more than we could expect when we follow Him.”
Kyle added that military chaplains are in demand, not only as more servicemen and servicewomen face societal and cultural challenges but also because faith was built into the military formula from the beginning.
“We think so often in our society, and as we look at our government and our culture, that God’s been kicked out of so many places,” Kyle said. “This is one place where our military leaders are asking for more chaplains. They see the need for spiritual readiness, and this is something our Founding Fathers saw from the very beginning. Chaplains started serving in our military in 1775, which is before the Declaration of Independence, before the ratification of the Constitution. So it’s nothing new, and our current military leaders recognize that. They see a continued need for it. So they’re asking for more chaplains to increase spiritual readiness, just as we need physical readiness, tactical readiness and warfighter readiness.”
Kyle longs to see more chaplains join the ranks—those who love Jesus, know the gospel and communicate the gospel and a biblical worldview effectively to the men and women of the military.
“Many of them are lost,” Kyle said. “They don’t know where to go, and they don’t know where to turn. As chaplains, we can hopefully point them to hope, point out the truth and point them to Jesus.”