Ep19 Tim’s Travails: This month”The Fortunate Son” author Timothy Trainer shines a light on retired Army chaplain Rachel Coggins
November 2026 — This month on IP attorney and author Timothy Trainer’s podcast/video show we meet Rachel Coggins is former chaplain (major) in the U.S. Army Reserves and author of Gateway To Iraq: A Chaplain’s Story, and Exploring Turkey’s Biblical Heritage: An Inspirational and Historical Travel Guide
Today’s Topic: Veterans and Healing
Tim asks Rachel:
- You served as an Army chaplain—how did that journey begin?
- Tell us the story behind your book Gateway to Iraq. What led you to write it?
- What was it like being a woman in that deployment environment?
- Was there a particularly challenging or emotional experience that stayed with you?
- How do your books speak to people who may feel uncertain in their faith or calling?
- For someone who has never been in the military of traveled internationally, what do you hope they gain from your books?
- What do you most hope readers carry with them after finishing your books?
- Where can listeners find your books and learn more about your work?
About our guest: From the dusty bases of Kuwait to the serene shores of Navarre, Florida, Rachel’s journey as a military chaplain stands as a testimony to God’s faithfulness—proof that hope flourishes even in the most unexpected places. Through four deployments and twenty-five years of service, she witnessed courage, resilience, and unwavering faith among America’s finest. Her first book, Gateway to Iraq: A Chaplain’s Story, offers a passionate glimpse into deployment encounters, revealing the lives of people who serve and the God who sustains them.
Together with her husband, Michael, an Air Force chaplain, Rachel served across three continents. A two-year tour in Turkey inspired her newest book, Exploring Turkey’s Biblical Heritage: An Inspirational and Historical Travel Guide. Through heartfelt stories, biblical insights, and vivid cultural discoveries, Rachel guides readers along ancient roadways once traveled by Paul—through Cappadocian cave churches and bustling markets built where Abraham once walked.
Rachel continues to serve through Rachel’s Well Ministries and Les-Amies Operation Lift Up, a nonprofit she founded to partner with African women, empowering them to lift their communities out of poverty and spiritual oppression.
When not writing or serving, she enjoys tending her garden, leading mission trips, and volunteering with the Veterans Treatment Court. Rachel’s calling remains clear: to share hope, nurture growth, and bear witness to God’s transforming faithfulness—from war zones to butterfly gardens. Learn more: rachelcoggins.com
About Rachel’s books:
Gateway To Iraq: A Chaplain’s Story
When Dr. Rachel Coggins received the call to serve overseas, the Army Reservist left a comfortable Georgia home to live in a harsh environment filled with challenges.
Assigned to a base called the Gateway, she welcomed military members entering the war zones of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait and then bid them goodbye when it was time to return stateside. In between those times, Chaplain Coggins listened to the warriors-to their fears, their worries, their heartaches, and sometimes, their joys. She became a confidante to some, a comfort to others, and a friend to still others.
Chaplain Coggins offers a glimpse into a world few civilians ever see. In retelling her experiences, Coggins reveals the struggles that confront today’s war-zone Soldiers and their loved ones, struggles that are often hidden from most Americans.
Exploring Turkey’s Biblical Heritage: An Inspirational and Historical Travel Guide
Step into the land where biblical history began. Through heartfelt stories, profound biblical insights, and vibrant cultural discoveries, Rachel Coggins will guide you along ancient roadways traveled by Paul, through church caves in Cappadocia, and dusty markets overlaying Abraham’s footprints.
When the military stationed the Coggins family at Incirlik, Turkey, near the birthplace of the apostle Paul, Rachel embraced the chance to explore the region’s biblical sites. From the Garden of Eden to the seven churches of Revelation, she uncovered precious gems of the Bible’s historic legacy within Turkey’s borders.
Photos of Tim by AnnaGibbs.com
About Tim’s Travails: In this podcast/video sereis, IP attorney and author Tim Trainer introduce us to experts around the country who have insight into the law, international trade, and more, to help us better understand our world in 2025 and beyond.
Tim, himself, fits the bill for he worked for three decades for the US government and private law firms focusing on international trade, and has developed a deep understanding of global economics and politics.
Writing books is his passion. The author of seven books as of 2025, he has penned several non-fiction tomes, including his first book, Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; the 15th edition was published in 2020. Thomson Reuters’ Aspatore Books published Tim’s next title in 2015, Potato Chips to Computer Chips: The War on Fake Stuff. Fiction was a genre he always wanted to try. In 2017, Pendulum Over the Pacific was released by Joshua Tree Publishing. “This political intrigue story is set in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and centers on trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan in the late 1980s,” Tim explains. In 2023, his first series hit bookstores: The China Connection. In December 2024, he followed it with The China Factor.
Stay tuned for more episodes on InkandescentRadio.com and Inkandescent.tv, and of course, log in regularly for new blog entries and other information on Tim’s website, www.TimothyTrainer.com.
