The Welcome Home Initiative will come South

As a member of the Deanery of the Chaplaincy, I have the double privilege of being a member of the (Disbursed) Order of St. Alcuin and be with some of the most inspiring men and women of our Dept. of Defense's Chaplains. In that capacity, I have a small involvement in the Welcome Home Initiative as an off-site Intercessor. Retreat #4 is currently occuring in upstate NY.  

The Team there is most gracious in sharing their expertise with those wanting to have a similar program in other location.  A committee is in formation in the Southeast to do just that. Discussions with a retreat center is beginning. A systematic manner in which to form a team is beginning to go from vision to paper. Interested individuals and programs are being vetted.

The Holy Spirit is on the move among us in respect to this Ministry.

In order to report the program in NY properly, I will actually quote from the information page. The Welcome Home Initiative strives to:

Mission Statement

Our goal is to minister practically and prayerfully
to members of the Armed Forces and their families,
providing support and resources
to help them heal and thrive.

An Outline of The Mission

To show our appreciation for the men, women, and families serving in the Armed Forces.

To help those who have suffered trauma in combat, be it physical, psychological, or spiritual, by providing ministry and resources for health and healing.

To preserve the confidentiality of every person.

To connect combat veterans with appropriate specialist agencies and resources including:

• Combat stress and trauma experts
• Critical incident debrief specialists
• Marriage and family life counselors
• Suicide prevention counselors
• Prayer teams

What Is Offered

A 3-5 Day Retreat for Members of the Armed Forces and Their Families

• Talks by Veterans and Trauma Specialists
• Discussion Groups
• Opportunities for Reflection and Healing Prayer
• 600 Beautiful Acres for Recreation and Relaxation
• Handicapped-Accessible Facilities
• Optional Marriage & Family Counseling"

The Scheduled format for their program is:

Day 1

• Arrival
• Free Time
• Opening Prayer
• Welcome
• Orientation
• Keynote Address
Day 2
• Clinical talk on PTSD
• Discussion Groups
• Healing of Memories
• Healing Prayer
• Free Time
Day 3
• Resources
• Free Time
• Healing Service
• Community Welcome
• Closing and Color Guard
Days 4 & 5 (Optional)
• Optional Marriage & Family Enrichment
• Recreation
• Personal Time"

 In order to replicate the key portions and implement situational/location specific and staff/retreatant needs, we will both work with our fellow CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) friends currently serving in the NY site and implement adaptions necessary for our location.

By utilizing their proven model with local adaptions, it would appear a quality model will be implementable a  within a short time. It should be noted that within a short ride of the location of the leadership team in the Southeast is:

Two major military installations

A Veteran's Medical Facility

Several Retreat Centers with quality rates/locations/multi-modal campuses and ample weekday availability

A major Airport (Atlanta) and several smaller municipal airports

and most importantly...... an emerging Retreat Team that considers this a ministerial call.

Please pray for and with us as we move forward with locating resources, including:

funding opportunities to allow us to offer this Ministry free of charge to the retreatants;

post retreat follow up resources including but not limited to both continued spiritual and emotional healing;

off-site Intercessors;

those called to assist in preparing the retreat center for retreatants arrival;

referral resources for potential attendee;

development of pre-attendance needs and post attendance follow up for the attendee;

and the list continues to be developed, always will include a special prayer for the 

GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT in ALL we do, say, think and are.