Skip to content The Testimony Series Season 2 - Mike Apr 14 · 5 min ...more
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In this video 0:00 Firefighters' Hidden Struggles and Suicide Crisis2:04 Cumulative Trauma Meets Christian Hope3:21 Ministry of Presence and Breaking Down Walls
Firefighters' Hidden Struggles and Suicide Crisis 0:17 The average firefighter has, a lot of memories. Immediately in my brain, I can go through a Rolodex, and I can0:29 picture those images. Right now, I'm thinking of a drowning I went on, and I will never forget the sound of of that mom screaming.0:43 People look to us to rescue them. We imply that we don't need rescue ourselves. The reality is we're all going through issues. We're all on a journey. But so often,0:56 we choose to do that journey alone. 2016 was the first year in the fire service that more firefighters took their life through suicide1:08 than those who are killed in the line of duty. We had a firefighter, in my agency. He had a an injury, and that led to some substance abuse and some alcohol. He,1:20 he ended up taking his life, and it it rocked our department. We realized we were not talking about the things that were really impacting us. And because of that,1:32 it was costing people their life, their livelihood, their their marriages, their sanity, the joy and vigor of their life. And so we just said, no. We're gonna talk about1:44 this stuff now. We had some very notable members of the fire department step up and say, I was1:56 suicidal. Another guy said, I was struggling with post traumatic stress. And all of a sudden, we started talking about it. By not talking, we were killing ourselves. But byCumulative Trauma Meets Christian Hope 2:08 simply talking, which for a guy is so hard to to open up and just really share what's on your heart and your mind because you think you're the only 1 struggling with it. And in reality we had2:20 well all of us were struggling with it. After a number of years on a job you've you've been on pretty much every type of2:32 call. And as time goes on, you've been on multiples of those calls, and they start they start adding up, you know, and and they're sometimes difficult to process. And,2:45 you know, as a as a Christian, I know how the story unfolds. I know who wins in the end. I know where I'm going to be when I take my last breath on2:57 this earth. But in the meantime, it's still hard. This fallenness that we experienced firsthand was not God's design.3:10 And that that fallen world is something that we deal with every shift. I I think theMinistry of Presence and Breaking Down Walls 3:22 important thing is that we're just we're just there in their difficult times, you know, and some people call it the ministry of presence, you know, not only as a as a rescuer. We're we're trying to help,3:34 but we're also present to be human beings in this in this time and and really help them navigate these difficulties. Knowing3:46 that there is a God who loves me, you know, that it helps get me through. And I'm just a real person and I think it's important for Christians and and the3:58 rescue work to not feel that they're immune from being depressed, or being sad.4:11 When guys at work get together and and are able to break down those walls and talk at a really deep level, that's when God really works.
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