Our Answer Is God

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

2 Corinthians 3:17

Jeremie Duckett was sent into combat duty in Afghanistan two months after joining the Army. He served our country and protected our freedoms from 2010 to 2016 and retired a Sergeant. He’s a current-day hero, but that title did not come without tragedy.

“My injuries have affected my life,” explains Jeremie, and the injuries he references are those received during his military service. “I don’t look at it as affecting my life as much as my family’s lives.”

Jeremie and his wife Leah have three children. When Leah reflects on the other soldiers in Jeremie’s unit, her words are heart-piercing.

“They could never get out of that mindset of war.”

And as a result, many war casualties come after soldiers return home from the battlefield, permanently scarred by Post Traumatic Stress.

20 U.S. veterans commit suicide every day. That’s why Joni and Friends is wholeheartedly dedicated to doing everything possible to give our servicemen and women hope through their hardships – to save more lives and souls for Christ! And we do this through Warrior Getaway. 

About an hour after arriving at Warrior Getaway, “We just opened up and spilled it all. It’s so easy to talk to someone who understands,” shares Leah as she recounts her South Carolina Warrior Getaway experience. “Warriors that have been through similar scenarios, they get it. Sharing that same battlefield experience is huge.” 

At Warrior Getaways, we’re committed to serving our veterans and every member of their families, because as Leah explains, “It’s not just him that affected. It’s me. It’s the kids. When you bring us all together for this healing, it works a whole lot better. The kids can be on this journey with us. They’re getting what they need, and they also know that mom and dad are getting help to heal.”

Warrior Getaway is so much more than a retreat. It is a healing journey for the whole family with Christ at the center of it all.

Jeremie agrees, “One of the biggest things I think that helps us in our faith are programs that include Christianity.” 

“If you don’t have Christ in the center of it all it’s not going to work,” states Leah.  

Jeremie, Leah and their children have so many questions – just like our other veterans and military families. Those questions can haunt veterans and threaten to be debilitating. But at Warrior Getaway, we bring Warrior families to the one who holds all the answers. 

“Your answer is God as our maker.” declares Leah. “The one who created us and why we’re here.” At Warrior Getaway, Jeremie concludes, “We come, worship and relax.”

At Warrior Getaway, our heroes – our veterans and their families – come closer to each other, closer to Jesus, and closer to finding peace in his ultimate healing.

It’s a journey unlike any other. And it’s one we feel we owe to the men and women who have sacrificed their all on our behalf. Because the darkness and depression that follows our veterans home begs for the light of the Gospel, and at Warrior Getaway, the Good News of Jesus flows as freely as the healing tears coming from our veterans, their spouses and their children.