….for your wonderful donation to our organization. You’re truly a blessing and we appreciate your support during this season of giving. Merry Christmas to all and remember the saying ‘Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the Old Man’s hat, if you haven’t got a penny, a half penny will do, if you haven’t got a half penny – God Bless You’. Thank you again! 
By Debbie DiVirgillo* of the Faith Based Non-Profit Resource Center.
*Shared with her permission
I have been thinking and reading about sin this week. Not a topic we usually like to think about, but it’s a reality, right? As I think about sin, I realize that most of my sin is never seen by other people… you may be the same. Perhaps you have been a believer for a long time and you are not tempted to do the really bad things in life.
But, maybe my sins that no one sees are even worse… because they are sins of the heart, thoughts and feelings I have hidden in my heart. And, in many cases have even been able to justify… well, because you know, its just not my fault. So, here are some thoughts.
Sin is a matter of the whole person. Every part of us is sinful, even those parts that we think are ok. That doesn’t mean that we engage in every sinful act possible, or that we don’t have moments of virtue.
Sometimes our sinful nature is covered by smiles, gentleness and grace. But, under this false veneer lies a heart that is not free of sin. Landon Gilkey spent time in a Japanese prison camp and discovered this truth. He had been raised in a good home with kind, generous people. But, while in the prison camp, he saw a different side of human nature.
In this environment, with space at a premium, he saw just how the human heart actually operates. To make things as equal for everyone as possible, each person was given the same allotment of space. Gilkey was in charge of housing (space) assignments. Some of the other prisoners came to him with elaborate stories about why they needed more space than others.
Others moved their beds a fraction of an inch every night to gain a bit more space. Even the Christian missionaries were involved in moving their beds.
Because of our sin, we might think we are doing things for the right reason, but there are wrong motives in everything we do. These wrong motives may include pride, a sense of entitlement, guilt or our own self-interests. These can be very hard to figure out and eliminate.
It is possible that the good acts we do are not out of our love for God, but for some other reason. As a nonprofit or ministry leader, these thoughts may be challenging. We may feel that we are serving, giving and caring out of the goodness of our hearts. But, perhaps, we need to look deeper and as we are told in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me God and know my heart….see if there is any offensive way in me.”
Read more articles from VOM Magazine here: https://www.veteransoutreachministries.org/vom-magazine/
Chicken Corn Chowder shared from Taste of Home
MAKES:
4 Servings
TOTAL TIME:
30 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
INSTRUCTIONS:
INGREDIENTS – FOR VEGAN VERSION!
INSTRUCTIONS – FOR VEGAN VERSION!
Read the Full Magazine here: https://www.veteransoutreachministries.org/vom-magazine/
An Article by Lishamarie Hunter
As we all are preparing for the holidays knowing that many of our traditional holiday festivities changed this year, due to the current health crisis. Many of our veterans are feeling even more isolated and stressed. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the commercials and the smiles surrounding the holiday season. Movies, retail outlets and commercial all showing the joyful loving family surrounding this season. The holiday season can be filled with dreadful many of our veterans: No, family, no friends and no social support network.
Women are the fastest growing population with in the military and veteran community. Theyare currently serving in all career fields throughout our military. They strive to fit in and belong. For many this is a challenge, males are still the majority of the force. Many females serve their enlistment and decide to get out. As highly trained and fully capable they return to the civil population still trying to fit in. This transition period can be even more challenging. Many experienced trauma within the tenure and feel disconnected from their communities. Many civilians don’t understand the life of a service member, especially women. Their handshakes are firmer, their language is too direct, and this makes others uncomfortable as sometimes unwelcome.
The conversations are strained and uncomfortable because they don’t have the point of references as their non-military female counterparts. When trying to connect with veteran organization most of whom are male dominated, there is no childcare provided. This is a problem as most women are the care provider for their families, which many are single mothers.
They normally aren’t even identified or acknowledged as being a veteran. This creates a leadership challenge for many organizations. They provide services and programs for males, but must also make them effective for females. Many females have experienced trauma (Military Sexual Trauma) and aren’t comfortable in a mixed gender support groups. All these little things add up to quite a bit for someone who has served and sacrificed, only to return and be invisible. It’s been report that suicides among female veterans have increased 85% in recent years. What is the reason for this spike?
Military experience for women is different than males. So, upon leaving the military women’s transitions need to be different. Transitioning from military to civilian can be difficult. If this transition doesn’t go well for females they are nearly 250% more likely to kill themselves than their civilian female counterpart.
Males are more likely to kill themselves than their civilian counterparts but only at a 18% higher rate. The VA reports that a high number of suicides happen in the first days, weeks, and months after a veteran leaves the military. Some believe that moving from a regimented military lifestyle back into the civilian world makes veterans feel disconnected, perhaps a lack of belonging. The fact that many in military don’t ask for help or don’t even know how to ask fro that assistance, makes providing support and assistances almost impossible. You can’t help someone if you don’t know what they need.
An important factor for a healthy lifestyle is a human connection. This connection is especially important to women who have gotten out of the military. The VA data shows that women who receive care are less likely to commit suicide. Their data also shows that out of the 22 veterans that commit suicide a day, 14 were not receiving any VA care. The VA has implemented a number of programs and resources for female veterans; ever VA medical center has a designated Women Veterans Program Manger, Designated Women’s Health provider and a Women Veterans Call Center.
Be aware that the holidays are stressful but most suicides don’t happen during the holidays they happen after the holidays when all the gatherings and phone calls are no longer taking place and the isolation sets in. Reach out and stay connected with veterans in your life.
Read more articles from VOM Magazine here: https://www.veteransoutreachministries.org/vom-magazine/
This is a Message from Delmarva Power posted Nov 2020. Several scams are taking place in our area. See more details listed below and tips to keep you safe.
Scammers are posing as third party suppliers and sending phony e-mails to some customers. The e-mail asks you to click on a link contained within the message. It is suspected that by clicking this link that your computer could become infected with a virus or malware. We ask our customers to pay their bill only by visiting delmarva.com, using our mobile app. or by mailing the hard copy of the remittance portion of the invoice.
Scammers are asking targeted customers to tell them that their account is delinquent and that their service will be shut off for non-payment unless they purchase a reloadable debit card for a specific amount from a local retail store. (Reloadable debit cards in themselves are legitimate products when used properly). Victims are then instructed to call the scammer’s telephone number with their debit card’s account number and unique number. Once the scammer obtains the card’s identifying information, the value is then downloaded; Swept and stolen without a trace.
Delmarva Power representatives will never ask or require a customer with a past due balance to purchase a prepaid debit card to avoid disconnection. Business customers also are being told to use this method to make payment of about $500.00 to have a new meter installed. Scammers tell customers that the state has mandated these meter changes. THIS IS NOT TRUE.
Many companies, including Delmarva Power, contact customers in person or via phone for various reasons. If someone contacting you claims to represent Delmarva Power, it is important that you take precautions to verify that the person is actually affiliated with the company, especially if that person is requesting an immediate monetary payment. When addressing past due accounts, we always offer multiple payment options.
Read more articles from VOM Magazine here: https://www.veteransoutreachministries.org/vom-magazine/
Article Written by our Business of the Quarter, Freedom Hills Therapeutic Riding
Renee S. Dixon – Executive Director
www.freedomhills.org
Freedom Hills Therapeutic Riding Program a Premier Center for Professional Association for Therapeutic Horsemanship as well as a Maryland Horse Discovery Center, offers Equine Facilitated Therapy to people who happen to have mental, physical and or emotional difficulties including Military Veterans, active Military and “Kids at Risk”. Our youngest student was 18 months old when he started. Our oldest student was 99 years old when he graduated.
We were the second program in the United States to offer Equine Facilitated Therapy Military Veterans. The Military Veterans come from the Elkton Vet center and the Aberdeen Vet Center as well as individually.
The “Kids at Risk” come from WINN Family Services, Perryville Outreach as well as individually. Many of these organizations serve people in both Cecil and Harford County.
Our Mentally Challenged population come from Bay Side Community as well as individually. We serve approximately 300 students per year.
In 2017 we started an Animal Education Program where we go into the school system with a miniature horse, a miniature donkey, a bunny, some chickens and two ducks. We also take this program to fairs to teach children about animals.
We are proud to be a Maryland Farm Based Education Center where we encourage schools to bring children out to the farm to increase the children’s interest in learning. We also helped write the curriculum for “Maryland’s Equine Farm Based Education”.
The only time an individual with a disability is turned away is if their doctor will not allow them to ride. However, in those cases we offer Natural Horsemanship which is groundwork and the person does not need to ride a horse.
We invite you and your colleagues to come out and visit Freedom Hills Therapeutic Riding Program so you can experience firsthand the joy and healing horses offer people.
A VOM representative, Tom Hogate, visited this excellent facility and was given a tour of the facilities.
When I interviewed a female veteran that has had many adversities to overcome. Her name was Cecelia Kress, an Air Force Veteran. She talked about her disabilities and how the Freedom Hills Therapeutic Riding Program helped her to overcome them. The tour, including the horse barns, training room, and the arenas were very well cared for and all the associates were actively busy. The days are long and very productive according to Renee.
I was impressed and the associates were very helpful when asked about the facility and what they were doing.
Read the full magazine here:
https://www.veteransoutreachministries.org/vom-magazine/
An Article by Lishamarie Hunter
Women are taking on more combat roles in today’s Armed Forces. With those more demanding positions they are experiencing an increase in Traumatic Brain Injuries. Service members sustain Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) during their day to day activities, training and deployments. Most are considered minor TBI/concussions. Data suggests that over the last 18 years the armed forces has sustained over 383,947 TBIs. The various classification are penetrating (5,215), severe (4,067), moderate (37,424), Mild (315,897), and not classified (21,344).
Out of the various branches the Army has had the majority of injuries. (12 Aug 2020). The different categories of TBI are as follows: Penetrating TBI occurs when an object pierces the skull and enters the brain tissue. Moderate TBI is caused when the brain moves within the skull and collides with the bone, often times referred as shaken baby syndrome, This occurs when the brain bangs back and forth against the skull. Symptoms from the TBI are but not limited to: Loss of consciousness, state of confusion, loss of memory, and feeling dazed (2020).
The differences between woman and men are not only emotional but physiological. Trauma between the two genders are experienced differently, and have very different effects on effects and recovery. While the reality is there needs to be much more research done on how women react, respond and recover from these traumas, in particular concussions or traumatic brain injuries, also know as TBI’s. It was during the research that scientists found that the data was skewed because they lacked information that specific to gender. During the research process they learned that 95 percent of the data collected were from male service members. When researchers paired 49 males and female service members, they noticed that sex does have more effects on TBI, and women were affected more cognitively from the trauma to the brain (11 August 2020).
What role does gender play in brain injuries? Woman are more likely to report a head injury. Woman’s necks are not as strong as a male’s neck, which would account for a moderate brain injury. Women’s symptom sometime look like another illness vomiting, nausea, headache, or drowsiness (August, 2020). They found that women sustained more work related concussions, with more severe symptoms and a longer recovery period than their male counterparts. Men were more aggressive after a head injury, and women were more likely to die from it.
Why is this? Women are not educated about brain injuries, they are unprepared for the time it take to completely recovery from the injuries. Equipment does not usually fit well, helmets are typically too large for their heads. The research data has prompted the military to develop more form fitted equipment for females serving our Armed Forces.
The Pink Concussion Organization is very pro active in the prevention, research and recovery of TBI’s. This group is affiliated with the Veterans Affairs. They are funded by donations. This organization has made great stride in providing information on the major research and its outcome in the Traumatic Brian Injury Field of medicine, and provide a number of educational presentation to present the latest findings.
References
Colantonio, A. Ph.D, and Mollayeva, T. M.D. Ph.D. 2019. Sex, Gender, and Traumatic Brain Injury: Implications for Better Science and Practice. PinkConcussion.com Retrieved: 10 August 2020.
U.S, Department of Defense, (2018) How many Service Members Have Sustained a TBI? Retrieved: 10 August 2020.
Walter, Kenny, 20 February 2020. Females Underrepresented in Traumatic Brain Injury Studies. Retrieved: 11 August 2020.
Read more articles from VOM Magazine here: https://www.veteransoutreachministries.org/vom-magazine/
Article Written by Male Veteran of the Quarter D. E. Stir…
My name is Ed Stir and I was born at Offutt AFB, NE. My father was career military. I entered the USAF at 17 and did my basic at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX, I PCS’d to Dover AFB, where I worked in the ER/Ambulance Crew. Here I became an ACLS Instructor and a National Registry EMT, which was a new thing then.
At Dover, we recovered the American remains from Johnstown, Guyana, and the Canary Islands plane crash that together killed almost 2,000 people, 18 months apart. I also attended Flight School at Brooks AFB, TX for Aeromedical Evacuation- I was later Honorably Discharged and enrolled in Wesley Colleges Nursing Program, under the Vietnam GI Bill, in Dover, DE, and I worked in the local emergency room while in school and after graduation.
Later I traveled to Texas and joined the National Guard in Houston, where I served as NCOIC Medical (flight) Section, 149th AHB, 2 months later I was activated for Desert Storm with the 217th Evac out of San Antonio.
After the war I moved to Teen Challenge, Hot Springs, Arkansas. Teen Challenge is a Faith Based Program that helps those struggling with life controlling issues. My issue was alcohol and PTSD and panic attacks. I later did an Internship there and attended Teen Challenge international Ministry Institute, known as Staff Training School, in Jacksonville, FL. After this I moved to Douglasville, GA, where I joined the Chaplains Training Detachment at Dobbins ARB, in Marietta, GA., then later transferred to the 248th, Medical Company Marietta, GA., where I was Platoon Leader of the Treatment Team.
I came home to Delaware to be close to my Grand-babies, They are the best! I’m Service Connected Disabled and can’t work. So I went back to school and earned my Bachelors Degree in Theology at The Sure Foundation Theological Institute. I’ve been trained in Biblical Counseling and Addictions Ministry at Elijah House. I was led to Victory Village Veterans Transitional Living Center, located in Middletown, DE, where we help Honorably Discharged Veterans that are facing difficult time in life, get back on their feet. I came on as the Volunteer Resident Chaplain and later added the title of Volunteer Resident Manager, both of which
I am still going 3 years later. I can truly say that Jesus, our Messiah SAVED MY LIFE! He has brought me full circle and I’ve experienced too many things for this short bio, but I’m grateful for all He has done and I’m grateful for all those fellow veterans out there. Together we CAN overcome! Welcome home!
View the Full Magazine Here:
https://www.veteransoutreachministries.org/vom-magazine/
Veteran Article Written by Female Veteran of the Quarter Donzella Brenda…
Hello let me start by introducing myself, my name is Donzella Brenda (Selby) Johnson and I was raised by my grandparents in a small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland called Oriole. My first name was given to me because I share the same birth month and day with my uncle whom was a POW, MIA of the Korean War. I attended Washington High School and was on the Honor Roll and tutored Math.
I graduated on June 6, 1976 and started Delaware Technical Community College on June 7, 1976. While at Delaware Technical and Community College, I earned a Certificate in the Clerical Field, tutored Math and Shorthand and was a member of DECA. Ever since I was a young child, my goals were to graduate high school, go to college, join the Military, get married and have a family. All of these, I accomplished. My proudest moment was becoming the mother of a daughter who was born at 7 months and is a NYU graduate in Broadcast Journalism and is at the University of Rochester and a son who was my miracle child because he was not supposed to live pass his 5th birthday and now is 33 years old and has his own online talk show and is my caregiver.
My Military and Civilian Education and Training are 42A Human Resource Specialist, 92Y Unit Supply Specialist and 91S Preventive Medicine. My other Completed Military Education is Equal Opportunity Leader, Advisor and Mediator. Homecoming, Deployment and Freedom Salute Coordinator, Subsistence, Supply, POL (Fuel) and Ammunition Clerk, Budget Management, Commodities Manager, Personnel Admin and Automated Logistics Specialist, Recruiting and Retention, Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Power Point, Unit Fund and Property Book NCO.
Lastly my Civilian Education and Trainings are Delaware Medical Reserve Corps Coordinator, overseen 684 Medical and Non-Medical Volunteers, AED/CPR, All Hazards Training, Autism and Emergency Preparedness, Bio terrorism Awareness, Community Emergency Response Team, by having this training I was able to save a gentleman’s life in 2012 and the article was published in the FEMA Newsletter, Advanced Emergency Response Team, Family Emergency Preparedness, FEMA Trainings, Grant Writing, Points of Distribution, RSS and Team building. I previously worked with Emergency Management Services and Office of Preparedness for the State of Delaware. In this role, I performed Administrative Support, Outreach and Workshops preparing our Delawareans for any type of disaster (fire, tornado etc.) During an actual event, I am part of the Incident Command team. Also am a Layleader for the Diabetes, Chronic Disease, Chronic Pain and Cancer Thriving and Surviving Self Management Programs, Narcan Training and Matter of Balance.
Despite all my Education and Training, 6 months after retiring from the Military, I got the shock of my life, I became a Homeless Veterans. I remained in that status for a little more than a year. I lost my home, transportation, all my furnishings, awards, medals and pictures. The main reason for the loss was I was not considered a Veteran, because I was Title 32 and not Title 10. I was not afforded the benefits, retirement and resources that are generally received upon retirement. I felt like at that point that the National Guard and the Reserve were the forgotten ones. Throughout my tenure of homelessness and even today, I focus every day on ending homelessness for all of our Veterans and fighting for the benefits, resources that all our Soldiers and Airmen of the National Guard and Reserve so deserve.
It has been an enriching experience to be involved as the President of the Delaware National Guard Army/Air Retired Association and the Secretary for the DE National Guard Enlisted Association and presently the Membership Chairperson, Ways and Means Chairperson and the State Conference Coordinator, I am also a former Executive Council member of the Homeless Veteran Stand down Committee, I now serve as their Service Provider Coordinator.
I am presently the Secretary for Area II National Guard Enlisted Association. Despite my many disabilities I put my all in giving back, collecting resources and educating myself, so that no one has to go through the trials and tribulations I faced, especially my National Guard Family. I do believe God took me through this to strengthen others that have or will be in the future go through the same obstacles I endured.
View the Full Magazine here:
https://www.veteransoutreachministries.org/vom-magazine/