{"id":301363,"date":"2007-05-28T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-28T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/hope-on-the-home-front\/"},"modified":"2007-05-28T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-28T15:00:00","slug":"hope-on-the-home-front","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/hope-on-the-home-front\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope on the Home Front"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Major General (Ret) Bob Dees talks about the unique challenges facing military families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2007-05-28.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"11.42M","filesize_raw":"11972574","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2895],"tags":[4958,4956,4959,2955,4957],"podcast_series":[7523],"cwp_profile":[],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-301363","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-marriage","tag-air-force","tag-army","tag-marines","tag-military","tag-navy","podcast_series-military-ministry-with-major-general-ret-bob-dees","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/301363\/hope-on-the-home-front","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/301363\/hope-on-the-home-front","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"aJ0P1tyM9Z\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/hope-on-the-home-front\/\">Hope on the Home Front<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/hope-on-the-home-front\/embed\/#?secret=aJ0P1tyM9Z\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Hope on the Home Front&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"aJ0P1tyM9Z\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Major General (Ret) Bob Dees talks about the unique challenges facing military families.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2007-05-28.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0You're talking about a very young population.\u00a0 You're talking the majority of the military, age 17 to 24, the wives; the husband's a bit older.\u00a0 These are youngsters marrying youngsters in many occasions that are ill-prepared to be married much less to be married in the military.\u00a0 And so you have that combined with the intersection of global war on terror; you have a first deployment; and then a second deployment; some on their third deployments for as much as a year at a time, and you can imagine how this ravages the military marriage.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0This is FamilyLife Today for Monday, May 28th.\u00a0 Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We prepare soldiers for battle; what can we do to prepare couples for the spiritual battles they may face in their marriage.\u00a0 Stay tuned.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Bob, have I ever referred to you as \"General?\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0[chuckles] No, no, you've never referred to me as \"General,\" \"Corporal\" \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0We're in our 15th year broadcasting, I've never saluted you, have I?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0You have not.\u00a0 No -- and I've felt a little disrespected by that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0I've never thought of saluting you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0It never even came to mind, did it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0It never even came to mind.\u00a0 But we have another Bob in the studio and because he's a general and you're not \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0Yes?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Instead of addressing him as \"Bob\" \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0You're going to call him \"General?\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0I'm going to call him \"General.\"\u00a0 I'm going to keep on calling you Bob.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0That is more than appropriate, because this general earned his wings.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0He got his star, no doubt about it.\u00a0 General Bob Dees joins us on FamilyLife Today.\u00a0 General, welcome to our broadcast.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Dennis and Bob, it's great to be here.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Would you salute Bob?\u00a0 Tell the truth.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Oh, I'd salute him, sure.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0I was a Boy Scout.\u00a0 I can do the Boy Scout salute with you, how's that?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0We could salute you right before you did your pushups.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Well, General Dees did graduate from the U.S. Military Academy in 1972; had a distinguished career with the military until -- what year, Bob?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Oh, until 2003.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0In 2003 you retired and served admirably -- I hate to use that word.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0That would be a Navy man who served admirably.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Well, first of all, I just want to say as I welcome you to the broadcast, General Dees, that we just appreciate you and your service on behalf of our families -- appreciate you and Kathleen.\u00a0 We know you raised your family in the military; that there was a cost to that.\u00a0 You had two children and now have got some grandchildren, and we want to say thank you in this time of war to you and the other military personnel around the world for defending our nation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Well, Dennis, thank you, but it's a privilege.\u00a0 We have a great nation, it's a great nation to serve, and I would just say every day of service alongside the sons and daughters of America who are so committed to what we do, it was a privilege, so thank you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0You know, General Dees is the executive director of the Military Ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, and he invited me to go to the Pentagon with him here about a year ago, and we stormed the outer circle and inner circles of the Pentagon, and I think hit a lick or two for Jesus Christ in the process, as we proclaimed Him there.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0But we've been in partnership with the military ministry now for more than a decade, and we have been attempting to strengthen marriages and families not only here in America among our military personnel but also around the world.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And, General, you're just back from an overseas trip where we have recently had a number of Weekend to Remember Marriage Conferences actually held by your staff on military bases.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0That's right -- just in October alone, we had seven Weekends to Remember and military marriage seminars around the world in places like Yokoto, Japan.\u00a0 These people that are at the ends of the earth, so to speak, really need Jesus Christ.\u00a0 They need to know God's blueprint, God's tools, and then Altus Air Force Base Oklahoma; 10 Special Forces Group, Fort Carson, that was incredibly powerful to have a large group and, out of that, there were 23 people that made professions in Jesus Christ as well as committing their marriages.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0What is so powerful is that 20 of those 23 were Army Rangers.\u00a0 So here you have the toughest of the tough bending their knees before the Living God, because they recognized from when cometh their help.\u00a0 Their help cometh from the Lord and from whence cometh help for military families, it cometh from the Lord, and it's powerful when you see these Rangers do that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0And military marriages today, especially during wartime, are facing unique challenges that you don't face in peacetime, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Oh, exactly.\u00a0 Well, the military marriage is an interesting intersection.\u00a0 First of all, they have all the challenges of a normal marriage, and also maybe more because you're talking about a very young population.\u00a0 You're talking the majority of the military, age 17 to 24, the wives; the husband is a bit older.\u00a0 These are youngsters marrying youngsters in many occasions that are ill-prepared to be married much less to be married in the military.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And so you have that combined with the intersection of global war on terror.\u00a0 You have a first deployment; and then a second deployment; some on their third deployments for as much as a year at a time, and you can imagine how this ravages a military marriage and how these people really need to know God's plan, God's blueprint, God's tools in order to just survive to work through these deployments, and then reenter in a proper way and have a healthy relationship between themselves and on behalf of their children.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0We're in pretty serious proportions right now in terms of divorce, in terms of suicide related to some of these issues.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0And speaking of divorce, during war more military families among enlisted personnel and in officers end in divorce, is that correct?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Well, that's exactly right.\u00a0 For example, last year Army officer divorce rates went up 78 percent.\u00a0 If you look at the aggregate statistics within the Department of Defense, four years ago 7,000 DOD across the board, the Department of Defense.\u00a0 The next year, 7,500; the next year 10,000 -- that was this last year, and now this year to be reported out on, we're not for sure -- is it 15, is it 20?\u00a0 We see this accelerated rate of divorces because of the frequency of deployments and we're dipping really deep into the well of courage, and these families are just having a hard time hanging together.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0I want to ask you about this picture that I have in my mind that's probably a Hollywood picture of soldiers who are on deployment, and they've got a weekend pass, and they're off the base, and the picture is that immorality is the norm.\u00a0 I mean, I'm thinking about the unusual pressure on a husband to be away from his wife six months, seven months.\u00a0 His buddies are going out on the weekends, and they're coming back and talking about prostitution, they're talking about girls they met in town.\u00a0 Is that for real or is that a Hollywood creation?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0I would say both, Bob.\u00a0 It's for real in that people that are on that type of deployment are sorely tempted, and we have them submitting to these temptations.\u00a0 There's a thing that says \"TDY,\" which means you go off to a faraway land for military mission.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0In Korea they used to say, \"Temporarily Divorced for a Year,\" sensing that they had the license, when they were on a deployment, to go downtown, to get with a yobo [sp], to -- and I find that alcohol is often at the root of it, because once they loosen up with alcohol, then they become subject to many other temptations, and they live out those fantasies.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0On the other hand, the deployments we're talking about are really not deployments where you have this discretionary time.\u00a0 These are deployments where you're in and out of combat on a 24-hour basis.\u00a0 Maybe you go on patrol, and you're 12 hours, 18 hours, in intense combat.\u00a0 Then you come back, you change your boots, and then you go out again the next night.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And it's an incredible intensity of action -- the wife fearing every day for the life of her husband.\u00a0 My young family, my son's family, these young grandchildren lived with us while he was in Iraq, and we saw the turmoil, the turbulence, the uncertainty.\u00a0 The little boy didn't speak for three weeks after the father left.\u00a0 He was only two years old, just starting to speak, but he didn't eat, either, and he knew something had changed in his world.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0Well, just magnify that hundreds, thousands of times in military families across our country.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0And most wives are not prepared to be able to guide their families to handle this let alone handle it themselves.\u00a0 They are left alone on military bases to cope with life, pay the bills, and manage what comes at them on their own.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Exactly, and the services work this hard -- there is something in the various armed forces called \"Family Readiness Groups.\"\u00a0 These readiness groups help.\u00a0 They particularly help, though, those wives that are on active duty.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0My son's wife, again, was in charge of a Family Readiness Group.\u00a0 He was a company commander, and so she was in charge, upon his departure, of 60-plus wives with children and families.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0How old was she?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0She was 22.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Now, I want you to think about that for a second -- a 22-year-old, newly married, new mom, in charge of 60 young wives and mothers.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Right.\u00a0 She had three of her own children, that's right.\u00a0 And it was just only in God's economy that He allowed her to minister to these people, but that's what we're asking people that are prepared or ill-prepared across our whole force to take care of these active duty wives.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0Those are the blessed ones.\u00a0 The other ones -- National Guard and Reserves, that's the part of the iceberg under that water.\u00a0 They're out in the woodwork of America.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Can't spot them.\u00a0 You don't know where they are.\u00a0 They're not on a military base.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Exactly, they're in the churches of America, some of them, and some of them are just in the communities, forgotten.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0Yes, and one thing we need to say here at this point, if you know of a military wife, National Guard, who goes to your church, what you're hearing is a part of her reality right now, and she needs the Christian community around her as few other wives, mothers, and women do.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0I am also guessing that the issue of pornography is a serious threat to marriages and families in a military environment, and I'm wondering, is there an official position on the part of the military?\u00a0 Do they discourage troops from viewing pornography now with laptop computers?\u00a0 A guy can go online anywhere.\u00a0 Is that discouraged?\u00a0 Are these kinds of things -- are they pointing men away from this?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Well, I think you'd be pleased in that there's pretty stringent measures against pornography within the military.\u00a0 The military, as an authoritarian environment, can simply say, as they do, we will not have pornography on government computers.\u00a0 And they have monitoring programs; they have ways to pick up on who has been involved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0I know when I was a commander, I would get a report that told me who was dabbling in the wrong places, and we would deal with it very stringently.\u00a0 So the good news, in the military, you have this organizational structure that allows you to stand up for good as well as the evil side.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0General, there's also this thing of these troops coming back from deployment and a syndrome that impacts not only their lives but their spouses and their children.\u00a0 Why don't you talk about that challenge that these young couples are facing?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Right.\u00a0 Well, a normal deployment and re-deployment is tough, as we have discussed.\u00a0 It's doubly tough because of the phenomenon called \"post-traumatic stress.\"\u00a0 Most warriors coming back have some form of post-traumatic syndrome, and some have a valid post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.\u00a0 One out of five is the prediction.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0The services are working it, but they work it from a secular, psychological basis.\u00a0 There is very little faith component, and I'm convinced that in addition to the psychiatric techniques the thing that's far more powerful is the power of love, the power of faith, the power of community, and if we, ahead of time, can help these troops know the power of God, and they can see things through a biblical lens, then they go through the traumatic experience, they come out the other end, they are able to process it properly, they are able to fall back into a community of faith, and it's a totally different dynamic.\u00a0 They may be affected, but they will get over it.\u00a0 Others that don't fall into this community will live with for decades and perhaps their whole life.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0And this does have an impact on a marriage and a family, and that's part of the reason why, General Dees, you and FamilyLife partner together to create Homebuilders Bible studies to be able to take to the military marriages and families.\u00a0 We have one called \"Defending the Military Marriage,\" and another one called \"Defending the Military Family,\" and, obviously, community isn't the total solution.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0But, you know, being able to talk with some friends honestly and openly and express what you're feeling and what you're going through coming back, is an important part of the healing process, isn't it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0It certainly is.\u00a0 We are thrilled to be able to be relevant to military families in partnership with FamilyLife.\u00a0 These impact events are important.\u00a0 Weekends to Remember, Military Marriage seminars -- these are to get them off of dead center but then the real essence is a sustaining small-group methodology, Homebuilders, that allows them to gather with other military couples, peers, and they can really share what's in their heart of hearts, and that's very important.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0It follows the maxim, \"An ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure.\"\u00a0 If we can get that on track before they go, it's really powerful.\u00a0 Even if not, when they return, it's powerful, and that's what the case was at Fort Carson, Colorado.\u00a0 These were returning warriors that turned their life to Christ because they saw how traumatic the war was.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0You're speaking of the Rangers who came back from Iraq and many of home received Christ at the Military Marriage conference that was held there at Fort Carson, right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0That's correct.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0The partnership that the military ministry has with FamilyLife is one component of what the military ministry is trying to do with our servicemen today.\u00a0 Can you give us a broad picture of the variety of ministries that the military ministry is involved with, with the men and women of the armed services?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Sure.\u00a0 Well, we maintain that what's really important is faith in the foxhole and hope to the home front.\u00a0 Now, this plays out in a number of ways.\u00a0 We are at the boot camps of our armed forces.\u00a0 It's pretty exciting to see, for instance, at Lackland Air Force Base, we'll have 1,500 airmen march to classes called \"Spiritual Journey for a Lifetime.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0They have the option of going to Mormon or Hindu or other places, but they come to our classes and, on a weekly basis, we see between 100 and 150 make first-time decisions in Christ, and then our staff has the privilege, responsibility, of helping them grow and get connected to their next assignment.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0This is taking place right now?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Right now, right now, every Sunday, and not only there but at Great Lakes Naval Training Center at Parris Island, South Carolina.\u00a0 I'll be there this coming weekend, on this coming Sunday, to do this type of thing.\u00a0 The last time I was at Parris Island 1,000 Marines in this worship service, over 100 came forward, bended knee, teary eyes, penitently giving their lives to Jesus Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0So this is an incredible ministry, and I've told Dennis there is an expression in the Army, \"Threat clears a man's head.\"\u00a0 Well, the sons and daughters of America have very clear heads, and they seek an anchor for the soul, and this anchor for the soul is clearly Jesus Christ, and they know it, they're not worried about being politically correct.\u00a0 They cry out to the living God so that they know where their hope comes from, and it comes from the Lord.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0You also actually send each soldier a Rapid Deployment Kit, which I think is really cool.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0We do.\u00a0 That's exciting.\u00a0 Since 9\/11, 1.3 million Rapid Deployment Kits -- it's a little New Testament, it's a Daily Bread, and it's a \"How to Know God Personally,\" in a waterproof bag, it goes in their cargo pocket.\u00a0 And these have all been packed by volunteers in our headquarters, and then they go out to the troops, and that volunteer's hands are the last hands to touch it before a soldier opens it up, many times in his hour of darkest need.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0The stories we get from the front about the power of God's Word -- it's alive, it's sharp, it's active, it provides encouragement and wisdom.\u00a0 We have a soldier in our locale, John Diggs, fell on a grenade and then another grenade came and wounded him again.\u00a0 He's a real hero in my book.\u00a0 He had 13 operations, 65 days Walter Reed.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0He came to us, and he talked about having one of these Rapid Deployment Kits in his cargo pocket and how, when he was wounded, that was the very thread of life that allowed him to hold on -- the encouragement of the Scriptures.\u00a0 And then as he was going through this lengthy healing process -- the same -- the power of the Word of God.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0So we see this with many stories from the front.\u00a0 It's an incredible privilege to be able to give these soldiers the Word of God, and like the Dallas USO, passes out on our behalf these Bibles to troops as they're going out the door at Dallas Airport.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0You're really modeling the kind of leadership and caring concern that took place in a little town in Nebraska, aren't you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Well, we're trying to.\u00a0 We sure are.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0During World War II, there was this little town that gave cookies and doughnuts and coffee \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0In Nebraska?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Right, North Platte, Nebraska.\u00a0 Now, North Platte was a Union Pacific railway station in 1941, just sort of seeing trains go back and forth and then, all of a sudden, Pearl Harbor happened.\u00a0 And when Pearl Harbor happened, they started running trains back and forth mobilizing soldiers, and one day the word went out, \"Okay, we've got some Nebraska boys going through on a train.\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0So all the ladies said, \"Let's bake cookies and doughnuts.\"\u00a0 They did.\u00a0 They went out there with their baskets and, as it turned out, they weren't Nebraska boys, they were Kansas boys.\u00a0 And so they just stood there, and they said, \"Well, what do we do?\"\u00a0 And one drugstore clerk, Raye Wilson, decided to have the moral courage -- she said, \"Well, I'm not taking my cookies home.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0So she went, and she handed out to these Kansas boys her cookies from Nebraska, and it started an incredible chain of events -- 55,000 women volunteering over four and a half years, sometimes meeting 32 trains a day at North Platte, Nebraska, and Union Pacific railway station, they donated this to this community, and they started calling it \"The North Platte Canteen.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And these troops would get off the train, and they'd jump off for 10 minutes, and they'd go in there, and they'd have coffee and doughnuts, and they would shine their shoes, and it was an incredible experience.\u00a0 And sometimes they would do this right before they were headed off to places like Normandy and Iwo Jima and the toughest spots of the world and many times they were heard when they were under mortar or artillery fire, \"If only we could be back in North Platte,\" because love chases away fear.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0So what we seek to be is the North Platte, Nebraska, and I think this story is so powerful for many reasons but particularly Raye Wilson.\u00a0 That one person, she wasn't the CEO of a company, she wasn't a person of influence, she was a drugstore clerk, but she had the moral conviction to make a difference to help somebody.\u00a0 She says, \"I'm not taking my cookies home.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And so now in this challenging environment we find ourselves in as a nation, the global war on terror that's going to be long, it's not just about Iraq, how do we all respond?\u00a0 Do we take our cookies home, America, or do we give our cookies to these wounded warriors coming home?\u00a0 Do we help those families?\u00a0 Do we wrap our arms around these people in the love of Jesus Christ so that they can become whole and be integrated back in our community.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0I know for FamilyLife, for military ministry, we're not taking our cookies home.\u00a0 We're working aggressively every day to make a difference in the lives of these military families so that they can really be all they can be in the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0And that's really why we partnered.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGen. Dees:\u00a0Exactly.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0We decided we want to help these marriages and families at their point of greatest need, and there is nothing like war to create a teachable spirit in a human heart.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0You brought your cookies, didn't you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDennis:\u00a0We sure did, and we've only begun to fight, but you know what?\u00a0 We're going to impact tens of thousands of military marriages and families before this is over.\u00a0 They're at our Weekend to Remember conferences around the entire calendar.\u00a0 They're coming and, in some cases, there have been those step forward to scholarship, military couples, to be able to attend at no cost, and I'm personally excited about our partnership with General Dees and the military ministry and, Bob, just being able to address the needs of military families.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob:\u00a0I just saw an e-mail that came in about a conference that we worked together on with the military ministry that took place on a military base back in April, I think, and it was a combination marriage and parenting conference; had almost 200 service people there. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0I think it was 85 families that were represented including some single servicewomen who are moms, and the response from that conference was powerful -- 29 people who trusted Christ at that event, people who recommitted their life to Christ.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And a lot of those couples who are going to get involved in a Homebuilders study, we've created some special Homebuilders studies for military couples including one that's called \"Defending the Military Marriage,\" and another \"Defending the Military Family.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0There's a brand-new book that Bea Fishback has written for us called \"Loving Your Military Man,\" that is for military wives.\u00a0 All of these resources as available from us here at FamilyLife, and we are working to aggressively get as many military families as possible utilizing these kinds of resources and involved in groups like this to help strengthen their marriages and their families in a very high-risk, vulnerable situation.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0If you know somebody who is in the military, and you'd like to get them a copy of one of these Homebuilders study guides, or if you know a military wife, and you'd like to get her a copy of the new book, \"Loving Your Military Man,\" go to our website, FamilyLife.com, click the red button that says \"Go\" right in the middle of the screen, and that will take you to an area of the site where you can get more information about what's available from us here at FamilyLife.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0And please keep in mind, especially on a day like today, to pray for our soldiers and for their families.\u00a0 Let's not forget the husbands and wives, the families, of those who are serving overseas who are just as much a part of the sacrifice of service as the men and women who are deployed.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0Again, if you'd like more information on the resources that are available from us here at FamilyLife, go to our website, FamilyLife.com, click the red button that says \"Go,\" and that will take you right to an area of the site where there is more information, and you'll also find a link to the military ministry website, so you can go there for more information as well.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0Well, tomorrow General Dees is going to be back with us, and we hope you can be back as well.\u00a0 We're going to talk about some of the things that General Dees has learned about leadership, and while he learned a lot of those things in the military, there's a lot he also learned outside of the military, and it may surprise you to find out where it was he learned some of these leadership principles.\u00a0 I hope you can be with us for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We'll see you back tomorrow for another edition of FamilyLife Today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t_______________________________________________________________\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. 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