Helping and Healing of our Heroes

Helping and Healing of our Heroes

November 11, 2025

Host: Dr. Jamie Mitchell

Guest: Joel McDaniel

Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 11/11/25. To listen to the podcast, click HERE.

Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate transcription, the following is a representation of a mechanical transcription and as such, may not be a word for word transcript. Please listen to the audio version for any questions concerning the following dialogue.

Jamie Mitchell:

Good afternoon. I’m Jamie Mitchell. I’m your host and welcome to a Special Veterans Day edition of Stand In the Gap Today. Next to loving and supporting pastors like we do here at APN. We equally love, respect, and appreciate those who have served in our military. We recognize that liberty that we enjoy, and especially religious liberty that we get to express has been secured and sustained by those who wear the uniform of our military. We owe them a lifetime of gratitude, and we know that it came with a price, especially as they prepared for today. I discovered some heartbreaking statistics, post-traumatic syndrome disorder, PTSD. The VA estimates that 11 to 22% of post 911 veterans suffer with PTSD. Suicide is on the rise. It was the 12th leaving cause for all veterans, but astonishing. It’s the second leading cause for veterans under 45 years old.

I could go through a litany of statistics about suicide among veterans. It’s heartbreaking. Now, that’s obviously a stream, but what about alcoholism, divorce, homelessness, unemployment, and the list goes on of all the difficulties that our military face much brought on by the time of their service. We know that only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and living under the growing and active power of the Holy Spirit can rescue these heroes. And we need God’s people to rise up and consider our military as a mission field. And today’s guest has done that. Joel McDaniel has served in a pastoral role, but a number of years ago, God moved him to begin focusing his ministry on service members. His ministry is Operation Resolute, and today we want to learn about that ministry and how he is bringing help and healing and hope. To our heroes. Joel McDaniel, welcome to Stand in the Gap Today.

Speaker 2:

Hey Jamie, thank you so much for having me. Looking forward to the conversation.

Jamie Mitchell:

Joel, I want our listeners first and foremost to become familiar with you and Operation Resolute and where the idea this ministry came from and what is it that you do? Can you just take a moment and share your story with us?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it’s a pretty circuitous route that the Lord has placed us on, but you identified that we’ve been a pastor for several years, and so this came out of that pastoral role. One of the things that I really had the joy of doing, particularly when I was in the men’s ministry that I oversaw at Providence Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, was the opportunity to use the outdoors as an opportunity to connect men with men as men do. We don’t do things well face to face. We do things really well shoulder to shoulder, and so we have to have something that is that connecting point in order to be able to walk with other guys. And I just found that the outdoors was just a relationship accelerator. So the church gave me the opportunity to start my own 5 0 1 C3 and it was called the original organization.

It was called OHT Outfitters, and it was taking the outdoors and using it to engage men both inside the church and outside of the church. While I was doing that, a friend of mine who was a very young chaplain at that time made his first deployment to Iraq, and this was during the surge and we were hearing a lot as a nation about IEDs and all that was occurring in that war torn nation. And I get an email from my friend asking if the outdoor ministry would send him fishing equipment. It’s come to find out he had some opportunities, some places around Iraq, specifically Baghdad that I guess Saddam had created these kind of private oasis and it stocked them full of fish. And my friend was working with a lot of the people that were on his team were ordinance disposal guys and they were going out every day outside the wire and they were having to deal with just these intense situations and this email basically said, Hey, with the outdoor ministry, send me fishing equipment so my people could have a sense of normalcy at some point.

And that’s what we did. That was our first foray into the military. We weren’t looking for that opportunity, it was just placed in front of us. We raised a little bit of money. I went down to new sports shop, worked with them, bought a bunch of fishing equipment, we boxed it up, sent it overseas, and we stood up a fishing club out of Baghdad. And Jamie, just kind of as a side note, which really has been kind of a cool thing, as I’ve told that story, I’ve had veterans come up to me and go, Hey, I think I fished with your equipment because once that chaplain left and he moved on to his next assignment, he left the equipment and the next chaplain picked it up and they just kept it going. And so whether or not those soldiers or airmen fished with our actual equipment honestly was immaterial to me.

But it just was the concept and it showed me the power of working with chaplains and partnering with chaplains because those are the guys that are going to keep the ministry going long after our events over with. So that was the opening Fast forward because I didn’t throw myself full force into it, it just showed me, Hey man, that’s kind of a cool niche. Maybe we can do some things here and there. But fast forward in 2012, I got a phone call from the same chaplain and we were catching up and he was on a new assignment and he was working with a special operations group and Congress had taken away their funding to take care of families. And what they were doing was when the operators were down range, they would do a mid deployment event for the families helping the spouses, the significant others, and the kids kind of get spun up as to what has been happening with their dad, with their spouse and going, Hey, when he gets back, he’s going to be angry.

He’s going to be hypervigilant, he’s not going to sleep well, and here’s some tools that you can use to help him reintegrate into the family. And they were having incredible success in keeping the families together and it’s just the reality Congress and their wisdom took away the funding for that. And so my friend was coming to me and saying, Hey, do you think you could help? And so that’s really where Operation Resolute took off because through that conversation we began a full forced focus on the military and we leaned heavily into that in order to be able to help this chaplain take care of his families.

Jamie Mitchell:

It’s amazing. Joel, I gather from your story, you don’t have a military background yourself?

Speaker 2:

No, no. 26, 27 years as a pastor, we have a son-in-law that’s a Green Beret. He’s a medic currently on a Green Beret special forces team. But no, it’s just through relationships that I’ve had with other people, specifically with that one chaplain that the Lord opened up the door to stand up operation Resolute.

Jamie Mitchell:

Boy, isn’t that like God though? God takes the people who just are willing to be used and make things available for him, and he opens up an amazing ministry. We’re going to hear more about Operation Resolute when you think about all the different people groups that we could reach with the gospel and help them grow spiritually. We probably don’t think about our military, but as you will see, not only is it worthwhile to do so, but the impact will be amazing. When we come back, I want Joel to speak further about what exactly those in the military are facing. We’re celebrating Veterans Day by understanding how to minister to our heroes. Don’t go anywhere. Stay with us here at Stand In the Gap today. Welcome back to our Veterans Day edition of Stand In the Gap. Today our guest is Joel McDaniel of Operation Resolute, a ministry focused on our military. Joel, as I began this broadcast, I gave a few statistics of what many in the military are experiencing and the pain that they’re suffering as you minister to service people, and especially as you talk with and work with chaplains who are on the front line, what are some of the difficulties that those in the military are facing or as they’re in the military, what is it that they’re going through that the gospel and the work of Christ could really serve them and help them?

Speaker 2:

I think that’s a great question, Jamie, and I think it’s multifaceted, so I’m not even going to really, I think, scratch the surface with this. I’ll just give you a few things from my observation, and I also just want to make sure that people understand I’m not putting myself forward as an expert, but just as I shared in that last segment, I just was a guy that the Lord placed an opportunity in front of. And just with the help of some other people, we stepped into it. And so for 13 years we’ve been serving active duty military. So while we’ve had something of a front row seat, I’m in no way saying, Hey, we’ve got this thing figured out. This is just kind of our place on the wall that we’re serving. But what we’re seeing, not just with the soldiers and the Marines and the airmen that we serve in North Carolina, but also just what we’re observing in the lives of our daughter and our son-in-law and our grandsons out on the West Coast as he serves with first Special forces group is the tempo.

A lot of it just the demands that are placed upon them, particularly those that are in more direct combat roles. Our son-in-law in particular, we’ve seen him on multiple deployments and after he gets back from deployment having a little bit of leave, then he’s right back into training mode and maybe even being gone for a couple of months away from the family. And so just that constant separation kind of you’re going and you’re coming, you’re going and you’re coming. And how do you have any sense of continuity? How do you have any sense of family stability when those demands are placed upon you? That’s a huge stress that I’ve seen both, again, as an observer of our military, but also within our own family. Then also, you think about it, we’re wanting our military to be strong. We’re wanting these men and women to be self-sufficient.

So when they need help, a lot of times they don’t want to reach out and ask for help because that’s an admission of weakness and that may impact them continuing, or at least their perception is that would impact their ability to continue in the job that they’re doing that many of them love. And so just by virtue of the work itself, it doesn’t necessarily lend itself to reaching out and saying, Hey, I’m struggling. I’m having a hard time. I’m not doing well as a dad. I’m not doing well as a husband or a wife. And then that kind of trickles down to the chaplains. I’ve had one chaplain describe it this way. He said, so many of my people see me as an IT and not as a person. I’m the chaplain, and if they come to me, one, that’s an admission of a need and that could negatively impact them, at least again in their perception.

But then two, they don’t see the chaplain as an ally as a person, and that’s where or really comes in. And instead of saying Operation Resolute all the time, we usually just choose the initials just or So if you hear me say that, that’s what I’m referring to. But what or does is kind of take that barrier down between those that need the help and those that can give the help, and we facilitate those conversations. Like what I was seeing back in the church with the outdoors, it’s a relationship leveler. Whereas a guy may not engage with their chaplain as a chaplain. They’ll go on a hunting trip, they’ll go on a fishing trip, and then around that campfire or on the boat or in the duck blind or wherever it is, they start seeing their chaplain as a person, somebody that they can trust, somebody that they’re willing to reach out to, and then that’s when the help begins. So those are some of the things I’ve seen, and that’s just a little bit of a taste of how or kind of bridges that gap between the stresses on the military and their families, and then the chaplains who are there to help putting those two together so that trust is built, relationships are strengthened, and hopefully truth is shared.

Jamie Mitchell:

Joel, I so appreciate what you just did because answering that question, you could have easily just gone to what we visibly seen where I mentioned at the beginning things like suicide and PTSD and alcoholism and divorce. Those are the visible fruits of the struggle. But what you just talked about is really the root causes of these things, their identity. I mean that alone having an identity of a strong, self-resilient, self-sufficient warrior, and when they start feeling the pressure and things crushing down on them instinctively, they don’t want to ask for help. And so they’re caught in this literally catch 22 needing and wanting help, but everything about their identity says, no, I shouldn’t ask for help, because that would be a sign of weakness. I mean, when we minister to military, if we have an opportunity, it’s not just the visible things that we see that are going wrong, there are deeper issues that have to be surfaced and really mined out of the heart of the warrior and the heroes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I agree totally with you, Jamie. And people have said to me kind of tongue in cheek, you started this so you could go hunting and fishing. I’m like, man, no. This is just a tool. That’s all it is. It’s just a tool to get to the heart of the matter, the literal heart of the matter. It’s great that we can offer first class outdoor events and we want soldiers to enjoy. We want soldiers to come and just relax and let us just serve them. But there’s a purpose behind it, and the purpose is, Hey, let’s facilitate those conversations, not force it, but if a soldier so chooses the help is right in front of them and they can step into that. And I know later on we’re going to talk about some examples, but Jamie, we’ve just seen it so many times, a guy that has held his chaplain off at arm’s length and the chaplain knows that things are falling apart for this guy, but they just won’t reach out.

But after that event, whether it’s a fishing trip, a hunting trip, whatever it is, we’ve seen it, I can’t even count. We’ve seen it so many times that that individual will tell the chaplain, Hey, I want to set up a time with you and I really need to unpack some stuff. And so the hunting and fishing is just an opportunity. You think about Jesus, he just took people where they were, right, whether it was the woman at the well or Peter and the boys mending the nets. He just took people in their everyday life and then he made a beeline towards truth and being the need for them to accept him. And so that’s what we’re doing here. I’ve had people go, you mean you’re not doing Bible studies or you’re not sharing the four spiritual gospels? I’m like, look, I’m not ashamed of the gospel.

We’re very overt in who we are, but that’s not our place. Our place is to put the chaplain forward. Our place is to make the chaplain Central because once that event’s over with my volunteers and I go home, but that chaplain’s the one that stays with those people. He’s the literal boots on the ground. And so we just want to facilitate those things, make it easy even having a fire in the fire pit. So when they come in off of the deer stands and the stakes are on the grill, they eat and then just go out and sit around that fire guys and y’all just enjoy the evening, we’re going to be in here cleaning up. We just trust that God’s going to get the conversations where they need to go. And we have witnessed it multiple times, whether it’s in salvation or issues of PTSD or all of the things that you’ve listed out, suicide ideation, everything you’ve listed out, we’ve seen and we’ve seen those things addressed so that now that soldier is not a statistic when he gets out, that soldier is healthy, that soldier is connected, that soldier has a purpose, and it all began because they got connected with their chaplain.

Jamie Mitchell:

Joel, we have about a minute left, and as I’m listening to you, most of us think about the military having great comradery. You’re in the barracks, you’re living with these people. You have friendships, you stand shoulder to shoulder. You give your life for this brother. But as I’m listening to you, it seems to me that there is a deep, deep loneliness with our military people. Again, you have about 30 seconds. Is that the case in the heart of a lot of our military, a deep sense of loneliness?

Speaker 2:

I think in some instances, Jamie, yes. I think in some, no. But the thing is, is that with the military is there’s a constant change. So you may have a season of deep comradery, but then that team breaks up and they go to different assignments, and then you got to start all over again. So I think the one constant that you could say is the change that they are constantly having to deal with. And so you’re just rebuilding those relationships. So I think loneliness can be a significant issue that our military faces. Yes.

Jamie Mitchell:

Wow. Well, to say that the challenge our military are facing, the spiritual, the emotional, with this recent shutdown of the government, financial, the relational complexities that they face, all of it we can understand as a deep, deep problem. Yet we must find a way to get the life-changing gospel to them, to let them build a relationship with a godly spiritual leader when we return. How does Operation Resolute connect with our military servicemen and open the door for chaplains to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ? Stay with us. Don’t go anywhere. Well, thank you for staying with us. A special welcome to any present or former military members listening today. Our hope is that this program will encourage you but also give you a vision on how to impact the lives of fellow military service members. Joel McDaniel from Operation Resolute has been sharing with us. Joel, I think it’s important for you to describe what it is that you do, why it is unique, how you support chaplains, but at the same time, use the outdoors to impact service members. Give us a good splash of what does Operation Resolute do?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Jamie, I appreciate that opportunity. I touched on it just a little bit, but the nutshell is we do outdoor sustainment events to facilitate gospel centered conversations. That’s what we do or takes the outdoors. And in North Carolina, we own as an organization, we own 400 plus acres and Eastern North Carolina, specifically Hyde County. And what we do there is we host hunting and fishing events that chaplains that we have built a relationship. We don’t just blast this out garrison wide. We’re very selected who we work with as it pertains to chaplains, because the chaplaincy can mean a variety of things. It doesn’t necessarily mean Christian. And even within Christian, there are various kind of stripes within that. And so while we’re non-denominational, we are very overt in who we are and what we believe. I say it tongue in cheek when I talk with a chaplain who is interested in working with us, I’m like, Hey, I don’t care how you baptize.

I don’t care whether you speak in tongue or you’re a cessationist. I have my own beliefs on those things. But here are five things, five doctrinal statements that we are very open about and saying, if you can agree to these, if these are things that resonate in your soul, then we would love to find an opportunity to work with you. And then past that. What we always say to a chaplain once they go through that vetting process is you have to be on every event. Any event you do with us chaplain, you have to be on because we don’t take any funding. A soldier doesn’t pay for anything. Everything is paid for, but the chaplain is the pay to play, so to speak. And I know I’ve said this in a couple of different ways, but what we want to make sure is that that event has the chaplain there.

The chaplain is using it to engage with his people, and then out of that, we know that there’s going to be ongoing impacts, not just with those individuals that came with him, but we have seen it multiple times. Word gets around the unit, word gets around the group, word gets around the battalion, this chaplain took these people off, they went on a hunting trip, they went on a fishing trip, and now you’ve got people coming to the chaplain’s office kind of interested in what’s happened. Hey, tell me about that offshore trip you did, chaplain. That really sounded interesting. So even soldiers and airmen and marines that didn’t go on the specific trip, they get word of what happened and they’re kind of curious. They want to know, okay, who is this person and what are they doing? And so all of that to say that’s how we leverage the outdoors.

We want to make it easy for individuals to be able to get out and enjoy the woods and enjoy the water. But like I said earlier, we want them to find a connecting place with individuals that are for them and that want to share truth with them, are equipped to help them navigate the stresses of military life. So a normal event right now is they’ll show up on a Friday, and because we’re working through the chaplain, it is a command buy-in event, so soldiers are not having to take to go. This is seen as a spiritual resiliency retreat. So this is seen as training, which I think is a very cool thing that commanders are wanting their soldiers to go on these events. So Chaplain works with us. They put together specific events. They have a certain number of slots to fill. They get their people there on a Friday afternoon, depending on what we’re doing, whether it’s fishing or hunting, they’ll go out that afternoon and do some of that.

They’ll come back in. My team has everything ready for them. We feed them great steak dinner, everything’s prepared, and like I said, we’ll have a fire in the fire pit. My team’s taking care of them. And then the next morning they get up and they do it again, and then we finish at lunch. It’s usually only 24 hours that they’re there. Sometimes it’s a little bit longer for some other groups, but for the most part it’s a 24 hour event. We do that for a couple of reasons. One, some of our chaplains need to be back on post because they have responsibilities in a chapel. But also my team, I want my team to be involved in their local church. And so we’ll bleed over every once in a while through a Saturday night into a Sunday, but for the most part it’s done Sunday afternoon.

That way, everybody, Saturday afternoon, everybody can get back to their places and if they choose to be involved in their local church. So that’s kind of how we function, Jamie, and we’re starting to see this being stood up in Georgia. Kim and I leave on Thursday, my wife, we’re going to be hosting a couple of hunting events with some partners there for the Ranger regiment in Georgia. We’ve got a partnership in Texas where we’re beginning to target Fort Hood and build some relationships out there. And it’s just the same DNA, just taking the outdoors, offering that to these warriors and getting them out, letting them have a good time, but doing it in partnership with their chaplain and helping them get connected to an individual that’s for them and can really help them navigate those stresses.

Jamie Mitchell:

Joel, I want you to share a couple of testimonies of how operation resolute in these getaways with their chaplain have an impact. But I was thinking as you were talking, having met some chaplains along the way and recognizing that sometimes the chaplain who has been placed at a base or at a unit may not be an evangelical chaplain or may not know how to minister, do you get opportunities to do some equipping of the chaplain and even help him hone his skills on how to minister to his soldiers? And then could you share a couple of testimonies that have come from your weekends?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I’ll speak to the chaplains really quick. Most of them are pretty trained up. If they’re coming to us, they’re initiators. What I love about the guys that we’ve worked with, they’re jumping out of the airplanes. I’ve had guys go through what’s called Sears School, survive Evade, resist, escape, and they don’t have to do that, but they’re doing that so that they go through those experiences with their people and they have a shared experience. So for the most part, the individuals we’re working with are highly motivated. They’re looking for the opportunities to leverage to get to the heart of their people. There’ve been a few that we’ve just sat down with and said, Hey, man, just consider this. This is how you can use this resource. But those are few and far between. A couple of the stories that we have, really my favorite one happened early on in the life of, or we were working with the chaplain out at Camp McCall.

Camp McCall is where all future Green Berets have to go. That’s where the qualifying courses held. And so chaplain out there, we were providing of all things a wild pig hunt in Johnston County. And one of his individuals that he was working with at Camp McCall, unbeknownst to the chaplain, was literally planning his suicide. He had the day, he had the time, he had the method all mapped out, and he was going to do it in a way that made it look like it was an accident. So his wife would get full death benefits. And he saw this announcement that the chaplain was taking some guys on a wild pig hunt, and this guy was an outdoorsman. And he’s like, you know what, before I do this, I’m going to go on one more hunt. I think I would enjoy that. And then afterwards I’m going to execute my plan.

And so he goes on this wild pig hunt, and while he is on this wild pig hunt, he and the chaplain start talking and he sees that his chaplain is trustworthy, and this is a guy he feels like he can relate to. And so when they get back off of the hunt, he sets up an appointment, starts meeting with the chaplain, eventually gets to the point where he shares, Hey, I was planning to take my life, but as I’ve been talking with you, I see that I really have some things to live for. And that guy ended up stepping away from that plan and then stepping back into his faith, Jamie. And then now this old Green Beret is now coming out. He’s retired, but he’s coming out to or and he’s now serving these young soldiers. And so to me, it’s just this incredible full circle that we’ve seen in the life of this particular individual.

Another one that I’ll share real quickly is another special operations group. And we were hosting it at our headquarters there in Hyde County. And the chaplain pointed out a soldier. He said, you see that guy? I said, yeah. He said, his marriage has fallen apart and he’s canceled on me three different times. He said, but he just came up to me and said, chaplain, my wife and I will be in your office on Monday morning. And the chaplain followed up with me afterwards. He said, Joel, he said they were good to their word and they’re now in marriage counseling. And both of those examples happened, Jamie, because their chaplains got those soldiers off post, got them on a hunt and got connected with them. We’ve had multiple salvation stories. Same thing guys that have held their chaplains at arms lengths. They begin talking with them around the campfire or even driving to a fishing trip and the gospel comes up and interest is perked. Walls come down, and eventually we’ve seen those soldiers come to faith. So everything from literal lives being saved to marriages being saved to decisions for Christ being made, all because their chaplains have stepped into the outdoors and said, Hey, come with me and just spend time with them.

Jamie Mitchell:

Wow, friends, this is where the rubber meets the road, taking people where they are at with all their hurts and their hangups, and then connecting them with the God of the universe who can change their lives. What a worthwhile venture. Boy, we need more of these opportunities across the country. I was so glad to hear that. In other locations, this is happening. When we wrap up, I want to discuss how the church can make an impact on our military. Don’t go anywhere. Stay with us here at Stand of the Gap today. We have been celebrating our veterans today discussing how to minister to them. Joel McDaniel has been sharing about his unique ministry operation Resolute. Joel, before time slips away, can you tell our audience where they can find out about or and the ways that they could support you?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Jamie, I appreciate that. Of course, our website, operation resolute.org, it has all of the information. In fact, it has several video testimonies, both of some soldiers, but also of our chaplains that we’ve worked with that’ll give people, I think a really good understanding of the overall ministry, but also the impact. And then of all this social media, well, not all the social media platforms, but Facebook and Instagram, that’s where we do a lot of our posting of our actual events. So like this last weekend, we had a chaplain out at our property. They were doing a fishing trip followed up by a deer and a bear hunt. And so we worked with those chaplains to make sure those pictures are done well, and we don’t want it to look like we’re selling the military, but at the same time, we want to report on what we’re doing and want people to be able to see those.

So that’s also in partnership with our chaplain. So operation resolute.org and then Facebook and on Instagram, you can find this and the ways that people can support. My wife manages our prayer team. I mean, we genuinely believe what the scripture says, unless the Lord builds the house, they that labor, labor in vain. And so we recognize that we haven’t stood this up. This has been all of him. He has provided all that we’ve needed to be able to do this. In fact, we just completed a 6,000 square foot lodge on the Pungo River, which is where we’re going to start housing our soldiers and all of our events expanding even into small marriage events, small family retreats that chaplains can do, six bedroom, six bath, just beautiful lodge. That was all done, but it was done just by God’s provision working through the generosity of his people.

So I said earlier, we don’t charge anything for what we do, and we also don’t take any government funding. So it’s either through churches supporting or through their missions. Most of ’em do it through their missions budget, but then it’s just a lot of people leaning into it. I’ve held checks in my hands from a widow on a fixed income, and it was for $25, and I’ve had a land developer give me a $250,000 check. And then everything in between. And so those resources then are just employed to be able to create these environments and these events that chaplains then can leverage. So prayer, financial support, and then people can lean into it by coming and serving. We’re not just saying, Hey, give us money. We’re saying there’s an opportunity for you to serve. Because every event has a team of volunteers that are a part of that.

And what we’re starting to see, and I’m really grateful for it, is that churches are beginning to grab that and saying, Hey, as a church, we’re not just going to send money, but we want to send our people. And yeah, it’s great to go to overseas opportunities and serve the local church there, but there are a lot of people that can’t do that. But they can take a day or so and come down to ORs headquarters and serve or in Texas or in Georgia or in any other place that we’re looking to stand up the organization and they can do an overnighter or if they can’t even get away as an overnight. I’ve got women that send pecan pies, and I’ve got one lady, she spent, I can’t tell you, Jamie, how many dozens of homemade chocolate chips, sea salt cookies that she sends. And we put those out every time soldiers show up.

And we’ve had repeat soldiers that have come through and they asking for Miss Marty’s cookies because those things have become kind of famous. And so it’s just a wide variety of opportunities that people can utilize things that they enjoy doing, whether it’s cooking or serving or giving generously, providing a boat on our fishing trips, ORs got its own boat, but we always have to have two more boats to be able to accommodate soldiers. And so we’ve got individuals that’ll come down and serve as fishing guides. We’ve got people that they’re not outdoors men, but they love to cook and they just love to serve. So those are ways that we need people to support Operation Resolute. And like I said, we are seeing this in Texas. The event we just did a couple of months ago had a church that leaned into it heavy and they sent their men’s ministry down and their men’s ministry took care of all of the food or didn’t pay for anything. They took care of it, they cooked it. They took care of those soldiers, they loved on them. And man, it just was so sweet just to sit back and watch those interactions because it’s not just about the chaplain, it’s about the church rising up and serving the men and women who wear the uniform. And that creates a lot of interest. They want to know, why are you doing this? And I think the simple answer is, Hey, two greatest commandments. Love God, love others. This is just an opportunity for us to show you that to

Jamie Mitchell:

You. Amen. Amen. Amen. Joel, we got a couple of minutes here. I want to quickly pivot back to the church. You were a former pastor. Let’s say there’s a church out there listening today. They live near a military base. They’ve listened to what you are doing. There’s no or ministry on that base. How would you encourage pastors, church members around the country give them some ideas on how they could minister to the military around our nation?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Well, one, I think there are a lot of great organizations there doing a lot of great work. I know Crew has a presence in the military. Navigators do, I think, fellowship of Christian officers. So there’s a lot of good organizations that are out there that maybe they could look and see. Those organizations may have a presence on that post, so don’t try and reinvent the wheel lock arms with those guys and start doing ministry with them. But also, keep in mind this, that, and we touched on this a little while ago, Jamie, is that there can be an inherent loneliness that’s on that post or that soldier look for ways to help that person find their tribe, so to speak, help them get connected and recognize that men do things by events. That guy’s probably not going to come straight to a Bible study.

They may, but they may not. But you need to find a way to meet them where they are and look for some creative ways, and maybe they do. Maybe a church offers, hey, a family fishing day. Maybe they’ve got some opportunities. Somebody’s got a farm somewhere or something like that, and they’ve got some ponds Work through, work through the Garrison Chaplain and find a way to do some family oriented events. Get them off post. One of the things that or did a while back, we don’t do it anymore, but it was highly successful. We did a Zoo Day for families and we had tickets and we treated them to the zoo, and then we had a catered lunch for them afterwards or during the lunchtime hour. And just to show them that the Church of Christ loves them and wants to bless them tangibly, it’s one thing to say thank you for your service, and I’m not denigrating that we should say that, but how much more? So to really put feet to our faith and do some things that they kind of scratch their head and go, okay, that was really good. I need to start checking into this. Because those people really come across as genuine and they seem to care about us. So just finding those creative ways to get outside of the church, engage them where they are. Outdoors is a great way. But family oriented events, like I said, zoo Day, other opportunities that people can leverage to engage the military, I think the opportunities are endless.

Jamie Mitchell:

Joel, thank you for being with us. Thank you for doing what you do and loving and caring for our heroes. Friends, check into Operation Resolute. Maybe you can be involved. You can support them. Maybe you can find a way to minister to our military. Sometimes heroes need to rediscover courage. They need encouragement. Well, that’s why we are here at the American Pastor’s Network. Every day we deliver another dose of courage to God’s people. Until tomorrow, live and lead with courage. See you in another 23 hours here at Stand In the Gap today.