Matt Cassady, a retired Army chaplain, is the Director of Chaplaincy Ministries for the Military BibleStick, an outreach of Faith Comes By Hearing. Cassady, who served two tours as a chaplain in Afghanistan, suffered wounds to his legs and hips from an explosion during a Taliban ambush in 2005 and received a Purple Heart. He soldiered on for 10 years despite the lingering effects of his wounds, then retired as a major in November 2015. His other military honors include the Combat Action Badge, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (two oak leaf clusters), Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal (one oak leaf cluster), Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Ribbon, Afghan Campaign Medal (two campaign stars), Army Service Ribbon, Korean Defense Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon (Numeral 2) and the NATO International Security Assistance Force Medal. Cassady, whose father served in the Air Force, grew up in Ohio, Alaska, Texas and Illinois, where he graduated from high school in 1992. He earned a bachelor’s degree in pastoral studies from Christian Life College in Mount Prospect, Illinois, and a master of divinity degree from Lincoln Christian Seminary in Lincoln, Illinois. Cassady went on active duty with the Army in 2005 and served with the 82 nd Airborne in Fort Bragg, North Carolina and in Afghanistan; in military intelligence in Korea; at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California; and at a combat support hospital in Fort Carson, Colorado. A few months after his retirement, Cassidy began serving at Faith Comes By Hearing, where he works with chaplains from all branches of the services who distribute the Military BibleStick to the men and women in their units. Cassady and his wife, Rachel, have three daughters and three sons and live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.