Karl is quick with a smile and eager to assist with any task at hand. He is a veteran who served four years in the Marine Corps, which included two combat tours. Karl was a Wanake camper at ten years old from Granger United Methodist Church in Medina, Ohio. Little did he know that Wanake would play an important role much later in his life.
When Karl injured his back, he was no longer able to serve. The prescribed pain medications became his priority. They took the place of God. He experienced pain and isolation, mixed with guilt and shame, for being a survivor when so many of his friends died in combat. Finally, Karl accepted powerlessness over his situation in Valor Court. “I can’t make a change on my own!” he admitted.
“When I first connected with Warrior’s Journey Home at Wanake, I was looking for something different. Something that would bring healing to my life,” Karl explains. “It all started with the Witness Tree Ceremony where I prayed at nine AM each day for eleven days. It changed my life! What started with the Witness Tree Ceremony led to the sweat lodge experience at Wanake, which began to address and resolve my survivor’s feelings of guilt and shame and put me on the path to healing. Now I come to Wanake each month for the sweat and have now for three years.”
“Wanake provides a place for me to sit face to face with my shadows; confront, acknowledge and accept my character defects; and learn how to deal with my emotions and feelings. A place where I can explore who I am and why I am here on earth. The sweat lodge experience led me to greater work - to plainly see the evidence of recovery in my life. ‘Listen, Speak, Heal’ is the motto of Warrior’s Journey Home. As I have been listening and speaking month after month, I am healing! Before Warrior’s Journey Home at Wanake I was uncertain and apathetic about each day. Now I want to see every day and live it to the fullest.”
“When I started this journey to healing, I did not have a community. At Wanake I became part of a group where I can see my reflection in the community. A community that wants the best for each person, including me. I am grateful to have found this community at Wanake with Warrior’s Journey Home, and I want to help others experience this path to healing, too.”
Your gifts make it possible for all God’s people to experience healing in the community of God at Wanake. Thank you for your generosity.
