How to clean your air filter

PTSD Patrol: Owners Manual and Your Air Filter
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 14, 2018

The owner's manual frustrates me! I was looking up how to check the air filter. Sure enough, I found the page to tell me what to do with it, but it DID NOT TELL ME WHERE THE HECK TO FIND IT!

CARS.COM — The cabin air filter, a feature found on most late-model vehicles, cleans the air that comes into the interior through the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. It catches dust, pollen and other airborne material that can make riding in a car unpleasant, particularly if you have allergies or other respiratory problems.

Some signs that you need a new cabin air filter are reduced air flow through your climate control system, such as when you crank up the fan too high and get more noise than results. Another is persistent bad odors. Even if you don't have these warnings, however, you should have the air filter checked at least once a year, and you may be able to do that yourself.

How can you fix anything if you do not know where it is? You cannot do it until you find it. Then again, how can you know fixing something is even possible unless someone figured out how to do it?

Have problems with your vehicle that you cannot fix yourself, you turn to a mechanic with more training and tools than you have. New cars go to owners with owners' manuals, so we can figure some things out on your own.

People are not born with owners' manuals. Well, that does not mean we cannot get our hands on one.
read more here

And if you think God did it to you, remember the Homeless Jesus statue

'Homeless Jesus' statue attracts double takes, compassion

CBC News 
Sandra Abma 
Posted: Oct 10, 2018

"I just noticed the wounded feet," said Damien Morden, who often passes the statue on his lunch hour stroll."If you strip Christianity back to its basics, it's about Jesus helping people out and taking care of the disadvantaged."

Homeless Jesus in the forecourt of Christ Church Cathedral on Sparks Street. (Sandra Abma/CBC)

At first glance, it looks like a homeless person huddling for warmth beneath a blanket, lying on a park bench along the west end of Sparks Street. A closer inspection reveals nail marks in the feet. This is Homeless Jesus, one of a series of life-size bronze statues from Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz. It's been sitting outside Christ Church Cathedral since late spring and it's been getting a lot of love from passersby.  

"There have been people who have left flowers on the statue, one person actually placed coins in the wounds and someone put a blanket on it," said Shane Parker, dean of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa. Parker says the statue reflects the church's ongoing work to help the homeless. read more here

*******

That is what a lot of people get wrong, especially if the church they attended ended up doing them more harm than good. The truth is, the Son of God did not come as a rich man, but spent His ministry as a homeless man among the people He came to lift up.

Yes, He lifted them up by getting down to where they were in life. Some were ill, some had been suffering from demons. Each one with their own struggles, yet all of them needed the same thing. HOPE!

Hope that they were not worthless than anyone else. Hope they were not unworthy of better days. Hope their pain could stop. Hope they would go to sleep without feeling the pain of hunger. Hope that everyday from the moment they heard His voice, it would all be better than the moment before was.

Right now, there are people here in Florida who just lost every possession they had with Hurricane Michael. They have no idea where they will live or how to rebuild their lives.

Hurricanes are horrible! We went through Charlie, Frances and Jeanne in Central Florida. None of them caused as much damage as Michael.

This is drone footage of Mexico Beach,


‘It’s all gone’: Tiny Florida beach town nearly swept away by Hurricane Michael


Things can be replaced and they can find another place to call home. They can find new jobs if their business was destroyed. It can all be replaced by something else including the thoughts they have.

There are many more people who witnessed the destruction of this monster hurricane. The key word they need to keep hearing is, they are not victims, but are survivors!

This is more about being proactive in beginning to heal. First, allow yourself time to grieve. Rest as much as possible. Above all else, talk about what is going on with you.

As a survivor of multiple traumatic events, that is the way something like PTSD is prevented. Do not hold in your feelings! That is the worst thing you can do. It allows the horror to gain control over your future.

Keep in mind that you could not prevent what the wind and water did that horrible day but you can prevent it from taking control of tomorrow.

If you need help, ask for it. If you need to talk, find someone who will listen. Dismiss any stupid thing they may say when they do not know what to say. Keep talking and know, they do care about you, but it is above their ability to understand what you are going through now.

And if you think God did it to you, remember the Homeless Jesus statue you just read about. Remember what He did as much as what He said. YOU ARE LOVED!

Spirituality May Protect Their Mental Health

Something bigger for mind-body-spirit
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 18, 2018

On Forbes there is a very interesting article about mental health and spirituality. Raising Kids With Religion Or Spirituality May Protect Their Mental Health: Study

"It turned out that those who attended religious services at least once a week as children or teens were about 18% more likely to report being happier in their 20s than those who never attended services. They were also almost 30% more likely to do volunteer work and 33% less likely to use drugs in their 20s as well."

In other words, you are happier if you believe in something outside of yourself. Yep, and you are more likely to care about others too.

"But what was interesting was that it wasn’t just about how much a person went to services, but it was at least as much about how much they prayed or meditated in their own time. Those who prayed or meditated every day also had more life satisfaction, were better able to process emotions, and were more forgiving compared to those who never prayed/meditated. They were also less likely to have sex at an earlier age and to have a sexually transmitted infection."

 You are also more likely to be happier, less likely to hang onto bad feelings and anger. Notice that also stated that you do not need to be in a building to be in a place of prayer or meditation? In other words, you can do it where you are for free!

"One drawback of the new study was that although it tried to control for socioeconomic status and other confounding variables, most people in the study were white, female, and of higher socioeconomic status. The study would need to be repeated in a more diverse population to see whether the phenomenon holds for other demographics."

Some may want to point out that if you have more money and security, then you are happier and more giving. I know plenty of people with the means to do a lot of good in this world, but they are more interested in themselves than others.

This is from 2014

Don't take your life, take it back
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 22, 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs puts it this way

After a trauma or life-threatening event, it is common to have reactions such as upsetting memories of the event, increased jumpiness, or trouble sleeping. If these reactions do not go away or if they get worse, you may have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Sometimes you may feel like a victim but you just didn't notice that you are a survivor. You are not weak. You were so strong that you were willing to risk your life for your friends and that came from the strength within you.

PTSD means you survived an event that was so traumatic your life was on the line. Anyone can change after that. When it is caused by combat, it means it wasn't just your life on the line but the lives of your friends as well.

While the events changed you, that does not mean you cannot change again. It doesn't mean you are stuck feeling lousy inside. You are not condemned to suffer, feeling sad, angry, bitter or hopeless. Help is out there the same way you were there to help your buddies survive combat.

Don't even think about taking your own life now when you can take your life back!

Every part of a warfighter went. Your body was conditioned to react to stressful situations. Your mind was trained to react in a new way. Your spirit was pushed and often crushed by what you had to see and do. Every part of you changed because of combat.

Life is full of challenges and changes because of them. Challenge yourself to discover that you have the ability to change again. Your buddies watched over you just as you watched over them when someone was trying to kill you. There is still an enemy to fight back home trying to claim victory over you and them. You used weapons in war and you need weapons now to fight PTSD. You were not alone in combat and you are not alone now.

Seek help for your mind even if that means medication. If the medication doesn't work or you are having problems with it, talk to your doctors so that they can change them until they find the right ones for you.

Seek help to teach your body how to live calmly again. It had to be trained to push on and now it needs to be trained to relax again.

Seek help to heal your spirit. After all you went through it is often hard to feel the good emotions because the bad ones are so strong. All that was good inside of you before is still in there.

PTSD can be defeated and you can take your life back.

And this is why I use Combat PTSD....

Combat PTSD Acronyms To Heal By
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 14, 2013

PTSD does not mean FUBAR (short for "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair" or "Recognition." To describe impossible situations, equipment, or persons as in, "It is (or they are) totally Fubar!") even though most of what the DOD has been doing has been.

If it worked then suicides wouldn't have gone up. If it worked then we wouldn't be talking about so much suffering back home. (Hell, this blog would be pretty happy and light on posts so I could get back to working for a paycheck all the time again instead of taking temp jobs.)

What we talk about all the time isn't what everyone else sees on the news so we'll keep cutting thru the BS (bull shit) living back here in the WORLD (USA)

Start with the acronym of PTSD itself "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" meaning "after trauma" which is actually "after wound" since trauma is Greek for "wound" and it was something that was done to you or you were exposed to. There should be no issue with this term if it was understood correctly. Replacing "disorder" as some want to do would put PTSD into something temporary instead of a lifetime disability. Changing it to I for injury would imply it will heal and go away but while you can heal PTSD, it never really goes away. With the right help you can actually come out on the other side better than the way you went into the military. What you can't heal you can learn how to adapt with.

So for them, CPTC would be the best acronym to use.

COMBAT POST TRAUMATIC CHANGE is a term I've been trying to come up with for over 30 years. (Plain and simple so if you see that term used from now on, you know where it came from.) Trauma changes everyone no matter what the cause was but hacks want to lump everyone in together as if there is no difference between a survivor of a car accident and a veteran surviving combat. A true PTSD guru not only points out the differences but the different levels as well. All PTSD are not the same! Veterans need the distinction to appropriately address what they survived and the fact they knowingly put themselves in danger for the sake of someone else. (Cops are the closest to veterans because they also deal with trauma and weapons used to do what they do but we're not talking about them on this one.) 

If you have issues with PTSD then start to use CPTC if it helps. Consider it this way. Combat changed you but that doesn't mean you cannot change again. There is nothing to be ashamed of and as a matter of fact, you are supposed to talk about it and not try to forget that part of your life.

Vietnam War Medal of Honor Hero Sammy Davis has been talking about this for years. He nailed it in this video from last year when I sat down with him and his wife Dixie. While I've known him for years, it was the first time we talked so much.

MOH Sammy Davis and Kathie Costos

Vietnam Medal of Honor Sammy Davis has a message to all the troops coming home. Talk about it! Don't try to forget it but you can make peace with it. Dixie Davis has a message for the spouses too. Help them to talk about it with you or with someone else.

 Now that you got the idea out of your head that you are supposed to just get over it, we can move onto the next part. MBS, mind-body-spirit.

Mind means talking to a shrink to be figured out. They test to see what is happening but if they are a hack and not trained for trauma, you can get a list of different diagnosis to explain what is going on. You need them for medications and they do have to play around with the meds to find what works for you. You need to talk to them and tell them if the meds are not working. The stuff hits your stomach and the chemicals shoot to your brain and your brain shoots the stuff out to the rest of your body. Meds are not the same as self-medicating and that is why drinking your 12th beer didn't work to get your adrenalin to adapt back to your civvies again.

This is only part of healing. The next part is taking care of your body. You have to train your body to become a veteran as much as you had to train it to become a flyboy, Sailor, Soldier or Marine. Well, as for Marines, they never really learn to walk right again. They keep the way they walk for the rest of their lives.

If you are physically able, martial arts, yoga, walking, swimming and a long list help teach your body to live more calmly. Make sure you do it at the same time everyday no matter how long you do it. Your body has an internal clock and will get used to what it does one day to the next and basically relearns. Just makes sure you can shut your head off when you are doing any of these. If your thoughts tend to run away, put in a pair of earbuds (unless you are swimming) and listen to calming music. It is fine to listen to whatever kind of music you like any other time of the day but this time has to be set aside for calming. Same with computer games. Don't play Call of Duty and think it is calming you down.

The spirit part is the most important of all since that is where CPTC hit you.

CSF (Comprehensive Soldier Fitness) is a bunch of BS and has done more harm than it has helped. We know that but the military has lacked the intel to figure that one out. So whatever you took from that training, forget about it. It is FUBAR to the max. Expecting you to train to become mentally stronger than what you already were is moronic. It has filled more body bags than the enemy. When suicides go up after they start something should have been a clue but there is no telling when or if they will ever figure that one out. When it comes to their ability to recon, they are pretty much Dinky Dau.

They trained you to be combat ready. Mentally and physically. What they had no part in was what you went into the military with. You courage and your compassion. It takes both to be willing to risk your life for the sake of someone else so whatever BS they fed you a steady diet of has to be flushed. That strength inside of you also opened the door for you to feel the bad stuff stronger than others did. It is not weakness of anything so telling you that you can train to be what you already were caused the emotional train wreck afterwards. This is a really good video on what is really going on with this crap.

POINT MAN: lead soldier in a unit cutting a path through dense vegetation if needed and constantly exposed to the danger of tripping booby traps or being the first in contact with the enemy.

Point Man leaders figured this out a long time ago. As a matter of fact before most of the new veterans were even born, way back in 1984. They also figured out that the families need to be educated and supported so they can help their veterans. It isn't whack-over-head-you're-going-to-hell type of spiritual healing. It is you are loved and you need to stop thinking you are evil because you are suffering. You don't deserve to suffer no matter what you try to tell yourself or anyone else does. There was no evil in you if you put your life on the line and there is no evil in you if you're grieving.

STAND-DOWN (period of rest and refitting in which all operational activity, except for security, is stopped.)

Time to learn, heal and then do what you do best. Take care of the others in need of help too. You know it all too well and you know what if feels like to be alone. Tomorrow can be better if you keep looking until you find what it is YOU need to heal.

UPDATE Can't help myself and have to say this.


FNG's in the DOD like to pretend PTSD is new but since they learned nothing from the past, nothing has improved but the bank accounts of morticians.

Minneapolis Afghanistan veteran "Soul Medic" for those who serve

'Soul Medic:' From the battlefield to Minnesota, a therapist continues to listen
Star Tribune
By Libor Jany
AUGUST 24, 2018

After years with military, therapist Resmaa Menakem works with Minneapolis police

“We don’t take care of police officers from a human point of view. A police officer will go from watching a baby getting killed, or domestic violence, to a hit-and-run where someone has a gaping wound. And no one is asking, ‘How are you doing?’” Resmaa Menakem

BRIAN PETERSON – STAR TRIBUNE
Resmaa Menakem last year started offering counseling services for the Minneapolis Police Department. He says every call an officer goes on can take a psychological toll.

It got so that he could spot what ailed them almost as soon as they walked through the door.

And each time, Resmaa Menakem, then a therapist working at U.S. military bases across Afghanistan, closed his office door and listened as combat-weary soldiers and civilian workers poured out their hurt.

Since moving to the Twin Cities, his work soothing tormented minds has continued. Only now, his clients include police officers, many of whom also suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Overseas, he heard about the constant rattle of insurgent gunfire and the makeshift bombs that regularly exploded in markets and outside restaurants and cafes. And he heard about what came next. Depression. Anxiety. Nightmares.

Here, he has continued to listen.

Over the years, more and more police agencies have come to recognize how officers are affected by trauma — not just from major emergencies like a mass shooting, but also the daily grind of responding to service calls. Now, many departments offer help for cops who are having difficulties.

In Minneapolis, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo has promised to transform the department’s culture “to realize that we recognize they’re not robots, they’re human beings.” Last year, the city received a $750,000 grant from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), one of five U.S. cities chosen for a pilot program to “provide community outreach for collective healing and organization support for officer wellness.” And Mayor Jacob Frey recently proposed allocating $150,000 for counseling to help officers “process what they encounter in the line of duty and recalibrate between calls.”
read more here

Marine veteran fought back from PTSD with Yoga

Contemplating suicide, this Marine turned to yoga to save his life
CNN
By Mayra Cuevas
June 29, 2018

"If we had firefights or anything went on that was a high-stress day, I was teaching yoga," he says. "We were in the dirt just doing the practice, and the students were coming. Even these big Special Forces dudes were coming and like, 'Hey, what are you doing over there?' 'I'm doing yoga and meditation.' "

(CNN) Marine Justin Blazejewski rolls out his yoga mat over a dock floating along the banks of the Potomac River. It's a sunny weekday morning inside the DC beltway, where he lives and works as a military contractor.

"I stumbled upon yoga to save my life, basically, and I knew that I found something special," he said. "And it's taking me on a totally different path than I originally planned."

After a quick warmup, Blazejewski folds over himself, the top of his head resting on the creaky boards beneath him. The soles of his feet rise into a bright blue, cloudless sky. He lifts both arms, vertical against his torso, until he's in a full unsupported headstand or niralamba sirsasana, as the pose is called in yoga-speak.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran "Vietnam will always live in me"

Ron Mosbaugh: Vietnam flashback offers chance to make peace
Joplin Globe
Ron Mosbaugh
May 11, 2018

"Although this flashback was traumatic and disturbing for me to relive, I believe there is a reason this memory has stayed with me. In a strange way, I think it is helping me to better understand what happened so long ago. It is giving me another chance to make my peace with myself, with my life and with my God." Ron Mosbaugh

It’s strange how a memory can be lost for 50 years and suddenly, out of nowhere, a flashback can appear and you’re back in Vietnam. I have been writing stories on Vietnam for more than three years, and I thought there was nothing else I could write that would add to those stories.

After all, one battle or one patrol in Vietnam was not much different than another. More than anything, I didn’t want to be redundant in my writing. I think, however, that flashbacks are topic worth covering.

I have always had flashbacks and nightmares from my time in Vietnam. Most of these have been repeats from previous events, but this recent flashback was from an entirely different trauma. It is strange that I haven’t thought about it since 1967.

The sad story is I don’t live in Vietnam, but Vietnam will always live in me.

Before I recount this flashback, let me give you some of my background. I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, which is a mental health condition characterized by witnessing and experiencing traumatic events — in my case from the Vietnam War. Common symptoms include nightmares, severe anxiety, flashbacks and uncontrollable thoughts. My PTSD was caused by combat exposure, but many of my symptoms occurred later in life.

This particular flashback involved a battle with the Viet Cong in Nui Dat Son, near Hill 55. It was a fierce battle, and we sustained several casualties. I especially remember treating a young African-American Marine. We were in a rice paddy, and the water was covering the lower half of his body. He was in pain because of a gunshot wound in his upper left leg, and he was yelling in agony. It was difficult for me to locate his exact wound location because of the low light conditions, his dark skin and the muddy rice paddy water that covered and camouflaged his wound.
read more here

Why let your engine overheat?

Crying keeps your engine cool!
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
May 6, 2018

We have all heard the saying "men don't cry" but that must have originated from a man who couldn't do it. Think of what he was like. He must have been one nasty individual.

Imagine not being able to cope with strong emotions. Then again, imagine what it must have been like to not be able to release that negative power. His engine must have overheated all the time.

Radiators A radiator is an integral part of your car’s engine coolant system. Its primary task is to keep the engine cool — if the radiator were to malfunction, the pistons would seize up, destroying the engine. In effect, the radiator along with the rest of the cooling system is your personal insurance against a devastating repair bill.

If you have PTSD after doing your job, then there are things you need to know beyond what you imagine.

You may think that others like you do not need to cry. After all, you are so courageous that you were willing to die for the sake of someone else. Right? Why were you willing to do that? Is it because you did not care about any of them?

Would it help to know that one of the most courageous men to walk this earth cried? 

He was feeling such empathy for someone else, he could not control his emotions and he wept.

I am sure by now you know where I am going with this. That man was Jesus. When He was in the garden, knowing His days on earth were coming to an end, He had such and inner struggle going on that when He did not weep, the emotional pressure was so great that his sweat came out as drops of blood.

42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22)

His engine overheated. Now, sure, you can dismiss all of this but then you'd have to dismiss the fact that Jesus knew all along who He was and what He was supposed to do. He also knew when it would happen. 
read more here

British Army Chaplain "PTSD is wound that does not bleed"

Whanganui reverend and ex British Army padre speaks of wounds that don't bleed
New Zealand Herald
Liz Wylie
25 Apr, 2018

Reverend Stephen Van Os lives a quiet life in Whanganui these days but in previous years he was living on the edge of war zones.

As a padre for the British Army for 30 years, he was posted to combat zones in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan where he gave spiritual support to combat personnel.

Although he was aware of Post Traumatic Stress Injury (also known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), it did not occur to him that he may be affected.

"It wasn't until I was back on 'civvie street' that I realised things were not right.

"This younger generation of veterans have to deal with many of the same life challenges of those earlier generations of servicemen and women but perhaps without the understanding of the public that they too had experienced some dangerous, stressful and personally distressing situations in their service for New Zealand."
read more here

Clergy learning how to heal veterans with PTSD

Lay leaders learn veteran and military culture
Tyler Morning Telegraph
By LouAnna Campbell
Apr 12, 2018

Enlisted. Officer. National Guard. Reserves. Active duty.

These were just some of the terms about 30 lay leaders, pastors and community leaders learned Thursday at Central Baptist Church.

With 15 military installations in the state, Texas has become a veteran-friendly place to live, and the Smith County Behavioral Health Leadership Team and Texas Veterans Commission teamed up to give free training to faith, community and lay leaders.

“Texas is home to almost 1.6 million military veterans, many of whom have experienced one or more forms of military-service-related trauma,” said Craig Combs, Texas Veterans Commission community partner coordinator.

The training gave those in attendance a glimpse into military culture and the stress and effects that continuous readiness has on military members and their families.

Local mental health authorities like the Andrews Center are part of the programs the Texas Veterans Commission relies on to reach veterans. Now they are reaching out to faith-based communities to help veterans and those serving in the Reserves and National Guard.

The veterans group is working with faith community members to give them skills in suicide awareness, military sexual trauma, alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury.
read more here

"It’s time to lighten your rucksack, friend."

Helping vets is soldier’s mission
Daily News Miner
Keith Kurber II
2 hrs ago

"It’s time to lighten your rucksack, friend. It’s time to get found."  

Keith Kurber II

FAIRBANKS — As a career soldier, everything I did for the military was based on a mission statement. It didn’t matter whether it were a peacetime training exercise or a wartime operation, the mission gave us the “who, what, where, when and why” of our task. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus Christ provided his mission statement and it reads like this: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10, New American Standard Bible). Because I am a follower of Jesus, his mission becomes mine. Wherever I go, I am to seek out and save the lost.

The seeking part of the mission seems fairly straightforward; it means I am out and about, looking for those who need to be saved. The idea of saving is also an uncomplicated notion, as long as I don’t forget that what saves somebody is pointing them to Jesus. Personally, I can’t save anyone, but I can tell them all about Jesus, who can. I can tell people that he is the answer to their deepest needs, especially their aching fear of the unknown, their chronic lack of peace and their confusion. Who wouldn’t want that?

But sometimes lost people don’t want to be found. As a young man, I regularly resisted the advice of well-meaning Christians trying to “save” me by pointing me to Jesus. And being lost isn’t a great feeling either. No matter what you call it, being lost, confused, unsure, unclear, perplexed, disoriented or bewildered, it’s largely an unpleasant experience. When you understand that the original meaning of “being lost” also encompasses being destroyed, rendered useless or killed, it takes on a very weighty sense. The bottom line is this: Being lost is not a good place to be, especially eternally so.
read more here

Keith Kurber II is the senior pastor of Harvest, a church that he and his wife, Nola, also an ordained minister, founded in September 2010. They look forward to many years serving Fairbanks and the Tanana Valley together through Harvest. Keith retired after serving 30 years of Army active duty, reserve and National Guard service as a colonel of special forces. He is also a Drop Zone graduate, having attended in March of 2018. Insight is sponsored by the Tanana Valley Christian Conference.

If you think work on PTSD is new, it isn't

A veteran returned to Seattle and became a police officer. He noticed more and more veterans being arrested, and then started to listen to them. He heard the same heartbreaking stories. 

Then he decided to meet them in a coffee shop so they could talk longer. He decided to change the conversation from what was wrong in their lives, to how to make them better.

Not long after that, he started to work with their families. He brought in more veterans and their families, so that more healing could happen. And it worked.

The veteran did not come home from Iraq. He did not come home from Afghanistan. No, it wasn't during the Gulf war. That veteran came home from Vietnam and the year this veteran decided to change the conversation, was 1984!

Point Man International Ministries

Since 1984, when Seattle Police Officer and Vietnam Veteran Bill Landreth noticed he was arresting the same people each night, he discovered most were Vietnam vets like himself that just never seemed to have quite made it home. He began to meet with them in coffee shops and on a regular basis for fellowship and prayer. Soon, Point Man Ministries was conceived and became a staple of the Seattle area. Bills untimely death soon after put the future of Point Man in jeopardy.

However, Chuck Dean, publisher of a Veterans self help newspaper, Reveille, had a vision for the ministry and developed it into a system of small groups across the USA for the purpose of mutual support and fellowship. These groups are known as Outposts. Worldwide there are hundreds of Outposts and Homefront groups serving the families of veterans.

PMIM is run by veterans from all conflicts, nationalities and backgrounds. Although, the primary focus of Point Man has always been to offer spiritual healing from PTSD, Point Man today is involved in group meetings, publishing, hospital visits, conferences, supplying speakers for churches and veteran groups, welcome home projects and community support. Just about any where there are Vets there is a Point Man presence. All services offered by Point Man are free of charge.

And another Vietnam veteran is President of PMIM. So, while all of the online news may seem to be "new news" now you know it isn't. 

YOUTH DAY EVENT

ON

SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2018 FROM 12PM – 3PM

SPONSORED AT

HOLIDAY COMMUNITY FELLOWSHIP CHURCH

via POINTMAN INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

AT 5144 SUNRAY DRIVE, HOLIDAY, FLORIDA 34690       

All Veterans, Children and        

 Community are invited.

PLEASE DON’T MISS OUT 

 MEETING AND SEEING THE

 FOLLOWING;

Christian Karate Club Exhibition;                              Christian Hot Rod Assoc. Exhibition Suncoast Credit Union                                                                                     Holiday’s Veteran’s Alternatives

US Marine Corps and 2 trucks, etc.                            Gideon's International

A Mobile Dental Unit                                                       Racing 4 Veterans on Exhibit

Local Marine Corp League                                            Chick-Fil-A

A Model Car Center by HCFC Members                   Local Fire Dept. #12

Pasco County Sheriff Dept.                                           Supporting Motorcycle Organizations           

Light House of Faith, Hudson Beach                       ACCESS for Education/Finance Infor.

For more information: Please contact Rev. Ernie Bullock at 585-727-3331, Don deMeurers 315-491-6235 or Donna Franklin at 727-389-4558;

DONATIONS APPRECIATED

PTSD Patrol Putting Hope in Your Engine

PTSD Patrol Fuels Hope
Kathie Costos
February 25, 2018

We need to talk! How many times have you heard those words and thought, oh crap, bad news coming? This time, it is good news!

Starting today, PTSD Patrol is going to be changing the conversation from suicide to healing. We need to face the fact that we will never know how many took their own lives but we do know why they did it. They lost hope that the next day would be any better for them.

We're going to be changing that conversation and start giving them reasons to hope for a much better life even with PTSD.

 For PTSD Patrol

For Facebook

PTSD, Yes there is a God to heal that.

Do we notice the goodness in the midst of evil? 
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 17, 2018

There is joke that pops up when someone is talking about some type of physical abnormality and someone says "They have a pill for that!" But what about when the wound cannot be healed by medicine alone? 

After all, when something in or on our body becomes wounded or sick, we know that healing is the only thing we can seek. We know our body will never be the same, but bones can heal. Skin can regrow to the point where if we're lucky, without leaving a scar. Hair can grow back...well most of the time. Organs, that have to be taken out, don't grow back but some of them can get replaced because someone else decided to be an organ donor.

Did you know that your spiritual wound can also heal? There is a God for that and He has proven His love since He sent us here. 


It has been a long battle that we seem to be losing, all too  often. We read about servicemembers, veterans, police officers, firefighters and others who have put the lives of others ahead of their own. Simply amazing what they are willing to subject themselves to, but sadly, they suffer beyond what simple humans are designed to overcome alone.

Among civilians, we know that there are over 7 million with PTSD, just for ordinary life getting messed up by events we had no control over. It can be just one event for us, but for them, it is over and over again. They still get up everyday, willing to face it all over again. Some say that courage is in their DNA. I think it is in their souls, and that is where PTSD attacks.

The truth is, we do control what comes next. What happens to us depends on what we do or what we are willing to settle for.

If you think that you deserve to suffer, then you'll settle for that. If you believe there is a reason you survived, then you'll fight to make the best of your extra time. 

You may wonder why you had to be where you were, when you were there. You may try to figure out why someone did not survive or was hurt a lot worse than you were. You can ask "why" a million times, but never know for sure. Don't try to make sense out of anything you will never be able to know.

What most ask after something horrific happens, is "Where was God?"

There are times when I also wonder the same thing. But then after the horrible news, comes images and reports of others showing courage and compassion and I know that God was there. For that kind of love to live through the worst that can happen fed by evil, the love must be fed by God or it would not outnumber the evil acts.

I wrote this a long time ago and I hope it helps make sense out of something that may give you some comfort.

Repost from 2012
Looking for God in the wrong places
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
September 12, 2012

Last night I was watching The Four Crosses at Ground Zero.

"As rescue and recovery began, fireman, police, and rescue workers would be forced to endure the nightmare of working and living inside Ground Zero. Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into hopelessness as the reality of what had happened sunk in. While working in Building 6 in the World Trade Center complex, workers discovered a cavernous type hole in the debris."

As I listened to some of the people there, while I thought it was a beautiful story, I kept thinking of what was missing from the program.

It is easy to wonder where God was on that horrible day as other people decided such evil acts were justified when they used everything in their power to kill. Where was He? Why didn't He stop it? How could a loving God allow it to happen?

We ask those questions all the time. We suffer in our lives, then try to figure out why God thought we deserved it. What did we do to make Him turn away from us?

If we search for Him in the dirt and debris we are looking for Him in the wrong place.

God was on those planes that hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon as much as he was on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. He was not the pilot but He was the comforter. When one hand reached out to comfort someone else, He was right there. Whenever people push past thoughts for themselves to think of someone else, He is there...


Many wonder why He didn't just cause the hijackers to suffer a heart attack an spare so many innocent lives. Others wonder why He just didn't stop them from doing it. The truth is in the Bible that God does not interfere with freewill so He would not have just snatched the hijackers out of their seats. Still how do we know He didn't try to get them to change their hearts?

It is natural for us to ask what caused other humans to do such horrible things but we miss the other question about what causes so many to do compassionate things afterwards.

What caused the police and firefighters to rush into the buildings after pure evil struck them? What caused them to climb the stairs over and over again trying to save as many lives as possible after others tried to kill as many as possible?

While the evil that man does is apparent, the good they do is inherent. It was not just public employees risking their lives that day, there were average citizens in the Towers thinking of others instead of their own lives. Some of them could have survived had they used the time they had to think of their own lives, but they had the lives of others in their thoughts and actions. It was God driving them to do for others and they had the freewill choice to allow His voice to guide them or not.

But then there were smaller miracles. Survivors reached out to help others. Strangers took the hands of other strangers, put their arms around people they would have normally just walked past under normal circumstances. Then people rushed to the area to give whatever help they could.

Days passed while more and more people showed up to help find survivors and recover bodies. God was still there hearing the prayers of the nation and comforting the weary as they refused to leave.

Families of the missing were comforted by others while the time of hope faded into thinking of funerals for when the remains were found.

Every street across the country became decorated with flags and so did our cars. We were all thinking of others glued to our TV sets and reminded to be kinder to other people.

Even members of Congress joined together on the steps side by side. And we know it took a miracle to do that.

Whenever we look for God in what has been lost, we miss where He was all along.

*******

For me, I wonder more and more what it will take for all of those who would sacrifice their own lives saving others, to begin to value their own lives and save themselves.

And this is why.

To lay down his life for the sake of his friends 
September 26, 2007 

Do you think God abandoned you still? Come on and admit that while you were in the center of the trauma, you either felt the hand of God on your shoulder, or more often, never felt further from Him. In natural disasters, we pray to God to protect us. Yet when it's over we wonder why He didn't make the hurricane hit someplace else or why the tornadoes came and destroyed what we had while leaving the neighbors house untouched. We wonder why He heals some people while the people we love suffer. It is human nature to wonder, search for answers and try to understand.

In times of combat, it is very hard to feel anything Godly. Humans are trying to kill other humans and the horrors of wars become an evil act. The absence of God becomes overwhelming. We wonder how a loving God who blessed us with Jesus, would allow the carnage of war. We wonder how He could possibly forgive us for being a part of it. For soldiers, this is often the hardest personal crisis they face.

They are raised to love God and to be told how much God loves them. For Christians, they are reminded of the gift of Jesus, yet in moments of crisis they forget most of what Jesus went through.

Here are a few lessons and you don't even have to go to church to hear them.

( Matthew 8:5-13)
As he entered Caper'na-um, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress." And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; be it done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

This sounds like a great act Jesus did. You think about the Roman Centurion, powerful, commanding, able to lead men into combat, perhaps Jesus even knew of the other men this Centurion has killed. Yet this same man, capable of killing, was also capable of great compassion for what some regarded as a piece of property, his slave. He showed he didn't trust the pagan gods the Romans prayed to but was willing to trust Jesus.

Yet when you look deeper into this act, it proves that Jesus has compassion for the warriors. The life and death of Jesus were not surprises to Him. He knew from the very beginning how it would end. This is apparent throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament. He knew He would be betrayed, beaten, mocked, humiliated and nailed to the cross by the hands of Romans. Yet even knowing this would come, He had compassion for this Roman soldier. The Romans had tortured and killed the Jews since the beginning of their empire as well as other conquered people. The Roman soldiers believed in what they were doing, yet even with that, there was still documentation of them suffering for what they did.

Ancient historians documented the illness striking the Greeks, which is what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There is evidence this illness hit every generation of warriors. Jesus would be aware that saving the Centurion's slave, because of the faith and trust He placed in Jesus, would be reported from soldier to soldier. Jesus showed compassion even to the Romans.

How can we think that He would not show compassion to today's soldiers? How can we think that He would look any differently on them than He did toward the soldiers who would nail Him to the Cross?

God didn't send you into combat. Another human did. God however created who you are inside. The ability to be willing to lay down your life for the sake of others was in you the day you were born. While God allows freewill, for good and for evil, He also has a place in His heart for all of His children. We humans however let go of His hand at the time we need to hold onto it the most.

When tragedy and trauma strike, we wonder where God was that He allowed it to happen. Then we blame ourselves. We do the "if" and " but" over and over again in our own minds thinking it was our fault and the trauma was a judgment from God. Yet we do not consider that God could very well be the reason we survived it all.

PTSD is a double edge cut to the person. The trauma strikes the emotions and the sense that God has abandoned us strikes at the soul. There is no greater sense of loss than to feel as if God has left you alone especially after surviving trauma and war. If you read the passage of Jesus and the Roman, you know that this would be impossible for God to do to you. Search your soul and you will find Him still there.

For the last story on this we have none other than the Arch Angel Michael. The warrior angel. If God did not value the warrior for the sake of good, then why would He create a warrior angel and make him as mighty as he was?

Michael has a sword in one hand and a scale in the other. God places things in balance for the warriors.

And in John 15:
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

When it comes to waging war, issuing orders, God will judge the hearts and minds of those who sent you and He will also know your's. If you feel you need to be forgiven, then ask for it and you will be forgiven. Yet if you know in your heart the basis of your service was that of the willingness to lay down your life for your friends, then ask to be healed. Know this. That if Jesus had the compassion for a Roman how could He have any less compassion for you?

Because the military is in enough trouble already trying to evangelize soldiers for a certain branch of Christianity, understand this is not part of that. It's one of the benefits of having I don't care what faith you have or which place of worship you attended. If you were a religious person at any level before combat, your soul is in need of healing as well. There is a tremendous gift when the psychological healing is combined with the spiritual healing. If you have a religious leader you can talk to, please seek them out.



Kathie Costos