Courageous Mens' Ministry

Outstanding night at our Courageous Men’s Meeting! Gabriel Caraveo shared a great interview message about how young people can be spiritually prepared before they enter the military, so that they can successfully represent Jesus and come out with a success story. This was Gabriel’s launch, in a way, of his new ministry called “Preemptive Stryke.” Let’s pray blessing and favor for Gabriel and Kelly Caraveo as they pursue the call of God concerning this new ministry that they are birthing for the Glory of God and the good of His people.

Here is an excerpt from Gabriel’s talk and his mission for “PREEMPTIVE STRYKE”:

First of all, I want to thank you for the opportunity to talk with young men and women of God considering military service. My passion is to help prepare them for the emotional, mental and spiritual challenges they will face if they choose to serve. It has always been an honor to give guidance and hopefully wisdom to young adults interested in military service from a Godly perspective.

Choosing to serve is a true calling to duty, honor, and country. Even though many join the service with a certain level of ignorance and naivete, there is within those chosen few a desire to defend, protect and even die for that which matters most, our freedom. However, the decision to serve while honorable often places a severe amount of stress and strain during daily life. This decision to serve not only impacts the individual, but their families as well. Families that more often than not didn't choose this lifestyle.

The idea behind Preemptive Stryke is to reveal the truth of what it actually means to serve and expose the entrapment that the enemy has waiting for young impressionable minds. A consistent theme from service members that I often hear is "if I would have only known” or "if I could do it all over again". Hosea 4:6 says "My people perish for lack of knowledge". I believe that in this day and hour God's heart is to reveal the traps and lies of the enemy that exist during and after military service. These include mental health challenges, pornography, suicide, adultery, addiction, divorce, etc... Satan has been able to deploy these tools to destroy the lives of service members and steal years of joy and freedom from their families. I believe God has a strategy to expose those demonic snares and disrupt the enemy's plans. It is my goal to help prepare these young adults so that they can navigate through any spiritual land-mines.

Let me start off by telling you what this is not. My purpose is not to "recruit" young people into the military. That is a decision that they make based on their desire to serve, seeking wise counsel with loved ones and ultimately praying for God's will in their life. Similarly, the intent is not to discourage military service. My heart is to support those who are considering or have already chosen to serve. Lastly, my goal is not to promote one service over the other. All branches of the military have their distinct purpose, and I would be happy to share as much information as I can about each one.

My hope and desire is to give each young person an honest perspective and understanding of the decision that they are making. Unfortunately military recruiters don't give new recruits the information needed to prepare mentally and spiritually for military service. Most exposure to military life is gleaned from movies, videos, and stories from family members who have served. Most new service members are not prepared for the spiritual attacks that come with long deployments in remote locations and combat zones. This leaves them unprepared for the dangerous path of addiction, divorce, anger and suicide that destroys many military families. The military does offer counseling and special programs for service members experiencing post-combat, real-world issues and problems. However, what programs do we have that speak to fighting against mental and spiritual attacks before the damage is done? What programs do we have that are proactive and not just reactive? Where are the offensive initiatives? This is the premise of the Preemptive Stryke initiative.

Even though this program is in its infancy, I do believe that the timing is right to finally give our young people the tools and information necessary to be prepared to combat the tactics of the enemy. I am excited about the possibilities of what this new strategy will bring, and I look forward to speaking at Courageous-Mens Ministry.