Bridges to Healing
February 17th, 2010 | 
Author: If you’re a wife whose husband has seen major combat, you already know that quite often the war doesn’t stop after the deployment ends. The number of service members dealing with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and TBI (traumatic brain injury) issues has risen the longer our military has been at war and it’s become a big focus for one particular ministry I want you to know about if you aren’t already familiar with them.
Military Ministry is a ministry division of Campus Crusade for Christ and is directed by Major General (Ret.) Bob Dees. He and his team were in Clarksville (near Fort Campbell) in January for a Bridges to Healing weekend conference and he graciously sent me an email inviting me to make the drive and attend the free event.
I went, thinking I might sit in the back and just observe, but I was pleasantly surprised when I was introduced to Gen. Dees himself and his lovely wife Kathleen. This sweet couple have such a great desire to serve God by serving military and it’s exciting to see all that Military Ministry is doing to meet the needs of military families, particularly those struggling with such hard issues. The training that was done during the Saturday conference focused on equipping local churches in helping service members cope with mental issues and we heard some powerful testimonies of faith from a few different couples who are dealing with it.
What was probably the most interesting part to me was how many veterans of Vietnam and their spouses were there, reaching out to help the currrent generation of heroes. I believe we are seeing a lot of healing in this older generation for as they reach out to help the younger service members, they are able to talk about their own experiences, traumatic events that they weren’t encouraged to talk about when they came home from their war.
The Dees’ asked me to join them when we broke for lunch and Gen. Dees was interested in hearing what Wives of Faith is about and how we’re helping support military spouses. We talked about ways our ministries might work together in the future and I’m excited to see what God brings about.
Definitely check out Military Ministry and review the great resources they have available. You’re probably already familiar with one of their most recent resources, When War Comes Home, which we’ve promoted quite a bit over the last year or so. They’ve also partnered with Family Life and have available some HomeBuilder Series Bible studies specifically for the military couple and family you and/or your church small group may be interested in doing.
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