Doing God's work in God's Country: Local 200-acre retreat offers emotional, physical and spiritual healing for wounded veterans in hopes of curbing devastating trends of suicide and divorce

 

After the fireworks and the Independence Day weekend celebrations comes to an end, there is one ministry in Little Mountain, S.C. dedicated to healing wounded soldiers that defended the freedom we celebrate and enjoy.

HomePlace is a 200-acre retreat and outdoor sanctuary serving wounded soldiers and their families through weekend farm retreats that offer emotional, physical and spiritual healing through nature activities that include striper fishing on Lake Murray, hunting, home cooked meals and a Sunday morning church service.

One of the missions of HomePlace is to help curb veteran suicide and high veteran divorce rates. On average, 22 service members and veterans a day are committing suicide. Veterans, as a group, have one of the highest divorce rates in our nation.  

“Either veterans or active duty are taking their life every day, and what we are trying to do here is somehow stem the tide in these families falling apart and these veterans taking their own lives,” Chuck McCallister, HomePlace Ministries President told WLTX news in a featured story you can watch on YouTube.

“It is our desire to help these wounded service members encounter Jesus, get a well-deserved break and appreciation, to give them hope and end this devastating trend,” according to the HomePlace website.

This is just an amazing ministry and mission. I had no idea this place was here. Thank you for the story WLTX.

Personally, I think we need more missions like this one. Did you know even the Roman Empire had a purification ritual to cleanse and purge the corruption of war?

Spiritual healing is highly important; without it you become emotionally toxic and destructive.

There are old warrior quotes that reference living with the trauma of war. The most famous is Plato, “Only the dead have seen the end of war. Others say things like, “My past is an armor I cannot take off, no matter how many times you tell me the war is over,” or “War has the last word,” but that isn’t true. God has the last word. His message offers peace, forgiveness, healing from the past, and a renewed purpose for a new future to those who are open and willing to receive it.