From ‘Never’ to All-In: Let’s Start Talking Trip Leads to Missions Career

By Laura McKillip Wood Melvina’s hands shook as she dialed 911. “I found my dad on the floor! I can’t wake him up!” She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself as the operator instructed her to begin CPR. Within a few minutes, paramedics arrived, but it was too late. The heart attack was fatal. They pronounced Melvina’s father dead at the scene. In many ways, this event marked the end of Melvina Brown’s childhood: “I was 17, but his death turned me into a 30-year-old.” She made decisions about the funeral and bought a casket. She began

April 6, 2013

Christian Standard

Care & Counseling Trauma

Brite Opens “˜Soul Repair” Center

By Jennifer Johnson No one returns from war unchanged, but some return so devastated that they kill themselves or linger in states of isolation, depression, addiction, or despair for years. Brite Divinity School (Fort Worth, Texas) launched its new Soul Repair Center in November 2012 out of concern for veterans of combat. Statistically, these veterans take their own lives at three times the civilian rate””6,000 a year, or more than one every 90 minutes. The center will offer public education and congregational training about the relatively new Veterans Affairs term “moral injury.” Moral injury, which often occurs with post-traumatic stress