Stories of Proximity- MEMPHIS, TN

Jason is an active-duty Navy Seal.  After 19 years of serving in California with many deployments and a rocky marriage, he moved to Memphis.  Right before he transferred there, his wife had committed her life to Christ and was baptized.  Jason was not "religious" and did not embrace his wife's newfound faith.  This, combined with his unrelenting focus on work over his family, caused greater tension in their marriage.

It wasn't long before Jason found himself depressed.  He was unhappy at home with his wife and 2 kids, unhappy at work, unhappy in life.  But he was a Navy Seal, so he was trained to fight through all opposition, to be strong no matter what.  Somehow, his training was not meeting the deep need of his heart.  He thought about going to the military for medical treatment and a large part of him thought about running away.

Jason's cousin, Ben, had reached out to him about The Journey, and he joined a group.  However, he was not ready to surrender to Christ and go to the place this process wanted to take him.  He rebelled and dropped out about halfway through the group.  It wasn't long before he hit rock bottom.  After some infidelity issues, he knew he was about to lose it all.

In this desperate time in his life, he noticed how God was working through his wife and her willingness to forgive him.  It broke him.  He began to re-engage in church, and he decided to try The Journey group again.  He was touched by the unconditional acceptance he received from Ben and the rest of the guys in the group.  This time, everything seemed to make sense to him.  His heart was open and ready to receive all that God wanted to teach him.

Jason's life was truly touched.  He is doing well now and his family is strong. The Journey reminded him of what he learned in the military that when a man falls behind, you don't leave them, but rather, you go after them.    He now feels like he has the spiritual quiver to go to battle to help other men.  As a matter of fact, he has already started living it out in a Veteran's ministry where he is being used to help bring hope to struggling Veterans.

We've often talked about how The Journey is not for every man, for not every man is ready or willing to go where The Journey wants to take them.  We have said that God is raising up "Navy Seals", special forces who will give up their right to their life so they can be used by God.  Jason is not only a literal Navy Seal, but he is becoming a Holy operative in God's army, as well.