View the KPRC-TV Houston interview with our own “Cowboy” Bob Dees, Military Ministry Executive Director.

MG (USA, Ret) Bob Dees, Executive Director, Military Ministry is interviewed by KPRC-TV at the Houston Rodeo's Honor the Troops Day.

We asked ourselves: Who’s helping these and other families affected by PTSD? We discovered that while many government and medical agencies are working the problem hard, few are including the spiritual dynamics of God, the Bible, faith, love, and Christian com­munity in their treatment programs.

Hence, Military Ministry has begun a program to provide spiritually rel­evant preventative measures and post-trauma spiritual solutions. Here are the initiatives we’ve begun so far:

• A Military Ministry staff and volunteers task force to begin ministering in person and online at PTSDHealing.org (see Standard Bearer Online/Pro­files).
• A pilot program with the U.S. Navy to “Care for Returning Warriors.”
• A church-based effort to mobilize churches around this need, which began with Times Square Church in New York City in January 2007.
• A widening network of people and organiza­tions aligning with the Bridges to Healing vision.
• God’s continual confirmation that we are addressing one of the most significant spiri­tual needs in the U.S. armed forces.

We need your prayers and support in this important battle on behalf of our troops and families. Jesus said “Come unto me all you who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest (peace).” May our troops and their families have this peace which only Jesus can provide.

We will soon surpass the two million mark in RDK (Rapid Deployment Kit) deliveries since Sept. 11, mostly through military chaplains who ask for them.

We are seeing great demand for God’s Word also through increasing requisition of our 170-page Combat Trauma Healing Manual (CTHM), providing spiritual solutions for combat trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This featured resource has made its way into the hands of more than 7,000 troops, families and caregivers since Veteran’s Day 2007. This past February and March alone, more than 400 chaplains from various branches of service were introduced to this resource and branded it “the only printed book of its kind.” After reading the CTHM for about 15 minutes, one senior Army chaplain said “the guidance and principles in this manual are what we [chaplains] have been telling the troops about for years, and this is the first time I’ve seen it in print in one study book.” The Army purchased a copy for every chaplain who attended its recent FamilyLife Chaplains Conference.  

Chaplains are also recommending the CTHM for all Army Warrior Transition Units where wounded warriors heal, and for the Army medical community training programs where wounded warriors are offered resources for healing.

Thanks to all whose prayers and support fuel our efforts to love our troops and Jesus.

• The Combat Trauma Healing Manual
• PTSDHealing.org
• Church Guide for Ministering to the Military

Our Military Ministry journey regarding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) started about a year ago when a number of Army soldiers and wives gathered in our headquarters. Although randomly chosen, they told compelling stories about the how PTSD was the primary issue in each of their lives.

Spiritual Solutions Needed

We saw the need, and we asked the question: “What would Jesus do?” As we learned even more over the next few months, we saw that many agencies are working the problem hard, but that the spiritual dynamics of God, the Bible, faith, love, and Christian community were missing ingredients in the prevalent treatment regimens. We became convinced that Jesus would seek to insert spiritual relevance into this great need. Hence, Military Ministry started an exciting journey to provide spiritually relevant preventative measures and post-trauma spiritual solutions.

And quite a journey it has been thus far:

• building a task force of Military Ministry staff and volunteers to pray, think and plan our response: Rahnella and Chris Adsit, Ron and Marcia Wheat, Paul and Nancy Davis, many others.
• working with military, church and community leaders in Norfolk, New York, and Houston to pilot a new church-based ministry, now called Bridges to Healing
• co-laboring with Times Square Church (New York) to help them launch their new military outreach
• nurturing a widening network of people and organizations who are aligning with the vision to provide spiritual solutions for combat trauma:
  • Houston Freedom Fest – Veterans Day 2007
  • Focus on the Family – Veterans Day 2007 broadcasts (Nov. 7-9)
  • FamilyLife – Memorial Day 2007 broadcasts
    
  • Protestant Women of the Chapel
• linking arms with the American Association of Christian Counselors toward equipping professional and lay people to provide sensitve, relvant care for PTSD sufferers and their families
• sensing God’s continual confirmation that we are addressing one of the most significant spiritual needs in the Armed Forces of the United States.
• producing the Bridges to Healing video to mobilize support behind this effort
• publishing the Combat Trauma Healing Manual to provide a step-by-step approach for connecting with God’s healing

We truly do need your prayers and support as we move forward in this important battle on behalf of our troops and families at this critical time in our nation’s history. Jesus said “Come unto me all you who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest (peace).” May our troops and their families have this peace which only Jesus can provide.

His legacy includes nearly 300 staff today and more than 500 field volunteers that labor on behalf of the gospel to the U.S. military and the militaries of 17 other nations! This legacy includes more than 200 basic trainees who asked Jesus into their lives this week — more
than a thousand a month at all of our boot camp ministries around the country. And the legacy includes more than 1.3 million Rapid Deployment Kits (RDKs) distributed to troops
since Sept. 11, and Scriptures and studies sent to internet users via Military Ministry Internet Outreach’s branch-specific Web sites.

With his wife Barbara at his side, Col. Fain gave us a heritage that is reflected around the world and recapped on the pages of this website. Read and be blessed!