I was 19 years old during my first deployment to Marjah, and eager to fight for my country. After spending 8 months deployed to a war-torn area, replete with opium fields, Taliban soldiers, and violence, I was wholly unprepared to deal with the aftermath and reintegrating into society.
I tried to share my experiences with my friends from high school and my family; yet the more I shared, the more I encountered a separation between myself and the people I loved and believed I knew so well.
Even though I felt the same, what I had been through had changed me, and I found that I was a stranger to the people I cared for the most. I had been through something they couldn’t understand, and they treated me differently. They seemed nervous to be around me, and they didn’t know what to say or how to respond to me, and I couldn’t help but feel disgusted hearing them talk about things and worrying about stuff that, to me, just didn’t matter. Not in light of what I’d just seen and experienced.
About the book
I left the Marines in 2012 and became an Associate Pastor. I have spent numerous hours counseling people who have dealt with trauma – whether that be from past abuse, dysfunctional childhoods, and relationships, combat, or other life circumstances.
This book is designed to do is to help people understand the ways that they are processing trauma and the impact that this is having on themselves and their families. Then to learn biblical tools that can help them better cope with and heal from their past, primarily utilizing their relationships with others and most importantly with God.
This book is in the publishing process and probably won’t be released until summer of 2021. My goal is to provide information about the book and its release to give others the opportunity to access this information early and to give support for this project.
In order to publish this book so that it can become available to the public, I will need to raise $5,000. Every donor who gives $50 or more will receive an autographed copy of the book once it is published.
Visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/fellowshipofsuffering/
I am uploading new content weekly that includes Biblically-based counsel on how to deal depression, COVID-19, racial tension and everything else that 2020 has or may throw at us.
Watch Peter discuss his new book here!