The reality of service, whether in the military, law enforcement, fighting fires, etc., is that these heroes die from time to time.
Sometimes it's in the line of duty, other times it comes in another form – suicide. Working in this field often takes a mental toll on individuals that leads them to believe that there's no other way out but to take their own life.
When these heroes fall, there are those they leave behind - spouses, parents, siblings, friends, and of course, children.
It's a fate no family should ever experience.
The feelings from the loss of a hero reverberate within family and friends for months and years, often forever. It just can never be the same.
And those who feel the loss most are the spouses and, especially, the children.
For spouses, once they get through the grieving process, they can at least find someone they can spend time with and form a lasting, loving relationship.
For the children, however, they only get one biological father for the rest of their lives. In the tragic circumstance where the father is taken away from them too soon, the children will forever feel the impact; there is no replacing him.
It’s a sad thought, as the role of a father is so important to children.
As written in the Bible, 13. 1 Thessalonians 2:11–12, “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you…”
The passage is about how a father should encourage as much as he corrects. But if he is gone, he cannot. The next best option is to have a mentor step in and fill those enormous shoes.
LifeCampUSA
This is exactly what LifeCampUSA does.
They mentor middle school-aged youth whose fathers made the ultimate sacrifice in the U.S. military, law enforcement, and first responder service to our nation. The program pairs youth with adult mentors, many from our military’s special operations community, and they all spend a week in a summer camp-style environment.
The founders of LifeCampUSA, Mark and Jane Neumann, who are parents to five children, were already involved in nonprofit work before LifeCampUSA. A colleague suggested pairing children of the fallen with skilled and experienced adult mentors, and they fell in love with the idea.
Mark recalls that moment.
“I thought, wow, that would be powerful, you know, to stand in the gap for these fallen fathers and teach lessons of integrity, discipline, resilience, resisting addictions,” Mark told LET.
As parents, Mark and Jane understand that middle school age is an important time in a child’s life.
“We've always had a heart for middle school age kids, to just talk about life and getting deep, because it's a big stage of transition for kids. We seek to walk alongside these young men and young women to guide them in life’s toughest moments and beyond,” Mark said. “And there's so much garbage that is being fed by the world that it's like, holy cow, the odds of being misled are pretty great.”
The mentor selection process is vigorous. LifeCampUSA wants to ensure each mentor is not only qualified but also connected to their faith.
“We limit, obviously on the mentor side, to make sure that we've got guys that are a primarily faith-based group of men,” Mark said.
He and his wife Jane feel that having a foundation of faith for the mentor, the child, and each camp outing is essential for success.
“We feel that that's really where a lot of the healing comes. If the kids can understand that they still have a father in heaven who loves them, even though they lost their fathers, God's got a plan for their lives. So, giving them hope and instilling in them that there's hope for them because they're treated poorly. We teach these kids they have a future and God’s got a plan for them,” Mark said.
The camp consists of activities such as archery, swimming, fishing, survival skills, map reading, fire building, and more - common summer camp-related activities. LifeCampUSA pairs each child with a mentor to ensure that communication never stops, so the children get the most out of the experience.
It’s a beautiful system.
But it doesn’t end after the week. Mark and Jane built the program to be a lasting experience.
“We have a program called Life Care, which is our aftercare for the kids, which we do monthly Zooms with the kids like this. Any of the uncles we call the mentors, uncles give them our cell numbers and are available the rest of their life,” Mark added.
Another important aspect of the camp is how they help the children understand the type of man their father was, even if he died by suicide.
“We've been able to share with the kids that their dads were servants. They [fathers] wouldn't have signed up to serve if they didn't have a servant heart and some aspect of that. And they were willing to die for our country. So your dad was a good guy in that sense,” Mark said. “We've been able to do some massive perspective change for these kids, and again, it's faith-based, and we believe that that can create true healing too.”
LifeCampUSA fully funds the summer camp retreats and travel for the children, which are located throughout the United States. Mark and his team have partnered with several camps, and more locations are expected in the future.
The very successful program now includes young women. Adult couples are paired as mentors, and the program continues similarly to the young men.
Unlike most nonprofit organizations, LifeCampUSA’s main concern is not fundraising; it is getting its mission out to the masses. They have the space and capability to mentor more young men and women.
You can help.
Share this story, tell people about LifeCampUSA, and spread their mission.
It could make all the difference to a young man or a young woman.
For more information, visit their website at https://lifecampusa.org/ and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
------------------------
Writer Eddie Molina is a veteran and has over 25 years of combined LEO/military service. He owns and operates the LEO apparel and accessory company www.BuyHeroStuff.com
Sometimes it's in the line of duty, other times it comes in another form – suicide. Working in this field often takes a mental toll on individuals that leads them to believe that there's no other way out but to take their own life.
When these heroes fall, there are those they leave behind - spouses, parents, siblings, friends, and of course, children.
It's a fate no family should ever experience.
The feelings from the loss of a hero reverberate within family and friends for months and years, often forever. It just can never be the same.
And those who feel the loss most are the spouses and, especially, the children.
For spouses, once they get through the grieving process, they can at least find someone they can spend time with and form a lasting, loving relationship.
For the children, however, they only get one biological father for the rest of their lives. In the tragic circumstance where the father is taken away from them too soon, the children will forever feel the impact; there is no replacing him.
It’s a sad thought, as the role of a father is so important to children.
As written in the Bible, 13. 1 Thessalonians 2:11–12, “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you…”
The passage is about how a father should encourage as much as he corrects. But if he is gone, he cannot. The next best option is to have a mentor step in and fill those enormous shoes.
LifeCampUSA
This is exactly what LifeCampUSA does.
They mentor middle school-aged youth whose fathers made the ultimate sacrifice in the U.S. military, law enforcement, and first responder service to our nation. The program pairs youth with adult mentors, many from our military’s special operations community, and they all spend a week in a summer camp-style environment.
The founders of LifeCampUSA, Mark and Jane Neumann, who are parents to five children, were already involved in nonprofit work before LifeCampUSA. A colleague suggested pairing children of the fallen with skilled and experienced adult mentors, and they fell in love with the idea.
Mark recalls that moment.
“I thought, wow, that would be powerful, you know, to stand in the gap for these fallen fathers and teach lessons of integrity, discipline, resilience, resisting addictions,” Mark told LET.
As parents, Mark and Jane understand that middle school age is an important time in a child’s life.
“We've always had a heart for middle school age kids, to just talk about life and getting deep, because it's a big stage of transition for kids. We seek to walk alongside these young men and young women to guide them in life’s toughest moments and beyond,” Mark said. “And there's so much garbage that is being fed by the world that it's like, holy cow, the odds of being misled are pretty great.”
The mentor selection process is vigorous. LifeCampUSA wants to ensure each mentor is not only qualified but also connected to their faith.
“We limit, obviously on the mentor side, to make sure that we've got guys that are a primarily faith-based group of men,” Mark said.
He and his wife Jane feel that having a foundation of faith for the mentor, the child, and each camp outing is essential for success.
“We feel that that's really where a lot of the healing comes. If the kids can understand that they still have a father in heaven who loves them, even though they lost their fathers, God's got a plan for their lives. So, giving them hope and instilling in them that there's hope for them because they're treated poorly. We teach these kids they have a future and God’s got a plan for them,” Mark said.
The camp consists of activities such as archery, swimming, fishing, survival skills, map reading, fire building, and more - common summer camp-related activities. LifeCampUSA pairs each child with a mentor to ensure that communication never stops, so the children get the most out of the experience.
It’s a beautiful system.
But it doesn’t end after the week. Mark and Jane built the program to be a lasting experience.
“We have a program called Life Care, which is our aftercare for the kids, which we do monthly Zooms with the kids like this. Any of the uncles we call the mentors, uncles give them our cell numbers and are available the rest of their life,” Mark added.
Another important aspect of the camp is how they help the children understand the type of man their father was, even if he died by suicide.
“We've been able to share with the kids that their dads were servants. They [fathers] wouldn't have signed up to serve if they didn't have a servant heart and some aspect of that. And they were willing to die for our country. So your dad was a good guy in that sense,” Mark said. “We've been able to do some massive perspective change for these kids, and again, it's faith-based, and we believe that that can create true healing too.”
LifeCampUSA fully funds the summer camp retreats and travel for the children, which are located throughout the United States. Mark and his team have partnered with several camps, and more locations are expected in the future.
The very successful program now includes young women. Adult couples are paired as mentors, and the program continues similarly to the young men.
Unlike most nonprofit organizations, LifeCampUSA’s main concern is not fundraising; it is getting its mission out to the masses. They have the space and capability to mentor more young men and women.
You can help.
Share this story, tell people about LifeCampUSA, and spread their mission.
It could make all the difference to a young man or a young woman.
For more information, visit their website at https://lifecampusa.org/ and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
------------------------
Writer Eddie Molina is a veteran and has over 25 years of combined LEO/military service. He owns and operates the LEO apparel and accessory company www.BuyHeroStuff.com
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The opinions reflected in this article are not necessarily the opinions of LET
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