"When we finished the book he was in a different place. He had a whole different way of thinking. He was even able to look at his sickness in a way that gave him peace and joy. He had another eye on life. He had something to hold on to."

Chaplains like Julie Rowan understand why it is important to live purposefully. Each and every day Rowan and thousands of other U.S. military chaplains minister to men and women who are putting their lives on the line to protect their country. More than anything these men and women need to know that their life -- and potentially their death -- is not in vain.

For Chaplain Rowan that's what has made The Purpose Driven Life one of the most effective tools in her ministry toolbox. Working primarily in the oncology ward of a military hospital in South Carolina, most of those to whom she ministers -- from young soldiers to aging veterans -- are terminal, looking square into the face of death, and wondering if there was any purpose to the life they lived.  

Rowan remembers one such young man, who was dying of cancer. The young soldier desperately wanted to know that his life -- no matter how short it had been -- had not been in vain. Rowan had recently received The Purpose Driven Life as a gift. As she read the book to herself, she thought of the young solider, dying in the hospital where she served. After the young man said he'd like Rowan to read the book to him, she was "determined to read every page to him if I had to."

"I took it slowly at first, trying not to look at him as a cancer patient but as a person with a purpose," Rowan said. "As I read to him, we both started to discover he had a reason to be born. There was something else in his life besides this sickness. If our primary purpose in life is to come into a relationship with God, then life, no matter how short, has meaning. And death doesn't end it. When we finished the book he was in a different place. He had a whole different way of thinking. He was even able to look at his sickness in a way that gave him peace and joy. He had another eye on life. He had something to hold on to."

Military personnel serving in every corner of the globe are finding similar hope and purpose through The Purpose Driven Life . Thanks to generous people like you, more than 310,000 men and women in uniform have discovered their Creator's purpose for them. With your help, we'd like to see every service person receive a copy of the book.

If you'd be interested in donating copies of The Purpose Driven Life to those serving in the military, click here. For every $20 you donate, 20 service people will have the opportunity to discover God's purpose for their lives.    

Click here to read the entire story about how Chaplain Rowan uses The Purpose Driven Life to help service men and women discover God's purpose for their lives.

Orders and donations placed in Canada and Australia will be processed in local currency.