United States (MNN) — When life gets hard, it takes courage to step back and reach out to God for answers. That’s what nearly two dozen United States veterans and first responders are doing this week.
75% of post-9/11 veterans self-identify as having PTSD.
(Photo, caption courtesy of Warriors Set Free)
“It is pretty apparent through the national suicide rate that we’re carrying things that we just shouldn’t be carrying,” says Eric Brew, a veteran and the director of Warriors Set Free Georgia, which is a ministry of Set Free.
According to data gathered from 2001 to 2021, the national suicide rate was twice as high among veteran adults as is was among non-veteran adults. (More on that here.)
“We want to spend time with these guys and help them to figure out how to empty that rucksack, lay stuff at the foot of the cross, and to walk away from it,” Brew says.
This is the fourth Warriors Battle gathering since the Georgia division of Warriors Set Free started last year. From October 23–26, the group (all men) will deal squarely with truth, relationships, identity and purpose in a God-centered way.
One important thing is that they’ll do it together.
“We don’t just tell someone that they should lay things at the foot of the cross, and we don’t just tell them how. We actually walk through it, hand in hand; we stand shoulder to shoulder with them while they do it,” Brew says.
“Christ Himself said healthy people don’t need a hospital, right? This is not about getting ourselves right. This is about an opportunity to come and have your heavenly Father meet you right where you are.”
Do you want to see God touch more peoples’ lives? Brew says there are multiple ways that you can be part of the ongoing stories with Warriors Set Free.
“The first [way] is not only the simplest, but it’s also the most heartfelt, and that is we want people to pray over us,” Brew says.
Warriors Set Free needs strong believers from all generations, services, and backgrounds.
(Photo courtesy of Warriors Set Free)
“Pray that hurting veterans, hurting first responders, people who have got roadblocks between them and their Heavenly Father, might just find their way to us so that we can simply present an opportunity for them to have a face-to-face encounter with their Father, to do business with God and to stand on this side of freedom.”
If you are a veteran or first responder who needs to talk, get in touch with Eric Brew directly at [email protected].
Connect with Warriors Set Free Georgia on Facebook, or learn more about their ministry based in Michigan and Georgia at warriorssetfree.org.
Header image courtesy of Warriors Set Free.
