A Guide to Supporting the Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Recovery of Veterans
Returning service members face visible and invisible wounds that affect their health, relationships, identity, and spiritual lives long after they come home. Many churches, caregivers, and faith-based communities want to help but are unsure where to begin. Welcome Them Home, Help Them Heal provides practical, compassionate guidance to support veterans and their families through re-entry challenges, trauma recovery, and the long journey toward renewed well-being. This resource equips caregivers with the knowledge, language, and tools needed to offer meaningful veteran pastoral care in community settings.
Drawing on the expertise of chaplains, counselors, pastoral caregivers, nurses, and veteran mentors, this handbook expands the reader’s understanding of the physical, psychological, and spiritual wounds of war. It provides concrete direction for building a supportive, informed, and healing-focused ministry for those returning from military service. The book is accessible, actionable, and grounded in the real experiences of veterans and their families.
What This Book Offers
A Comprehensive Understanding of Post-Deployment Realities
Chapters introduce the nature of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the complex transition from soldier to civilian life. These sections highlight the emotional, spiritual, and behavioral wounds many veterans carry, including PTSD, traumatic brain injury, depression, anxiety, moral injury, and reintegration stress. These realities are described through both research-based insights and personal stories from veterans and families.
Essential Guidance for Churches and Faith Communities
This resource defines the church’s role in veteran care, offering:
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Principles for outreach and supportive ministry
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Ways to create a welcoming, safe, and trauma-sensitive environment
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Ideas for activating healing rituals throughout the church year
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Guidance on attentive listening, trust-building, and spiritual support
These sections help pastoral leaders understand what to say, what not to say, and how to respond sensitively to combat-related challenges.
Practical Tools, Assessments, and Referral Support
The book provides concrete tools and resources, including:
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Quick screening tools for PTSD, depression, and TBI
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A “Wounds of War” assessment
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Tips for making effective referrals
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Guidance on when to involve VA, state, or local services
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A curated list of agencies serving veterans
These materials help caregivers identify concerns early and direct veterans to appropriate professional support.
A Ministry Rooted in Compassion and Long-Term Care
The text emphasizes the importance of long-term support, noting that many of the deepest struggles arise months or years after homecoming. The book encourages congregations to sustain their ministry beyond initial celebrations and to recognize the ongoing emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of veterans and their families.
Additional Resource for Working With Veterans
Award Recognition
On May 24, 2010 Welcome Them Home, Help Them Heal won first place in the Religion category of the prestigious Independent Book Publishers Association's Benjamin Franklin Awards. Named in honor of America's most cherished publisher and printer, this award recognizes excellence in independent publishing. Books are grouped by genre and are judged on editorial and design merit by top practitioners in each field. A panel of 150 judges from the publishing industry weighed and evaluated close to 1,300 submissions in 50 categories submitted by publishers large and small.
