Hopkinsville—A recent “stand down” at nearby Fort Campbell that allowed the Army time to address a growing suicide problem didn’t surprise Carolyn Self.

She sees troubled soldiers and their families regularly at Cornerstone Counseling, an outreach of Christian County Baptist Association.

“It’s very difficult,” said Self, a licensed clinical social worker. “There’s so much trauma from deployment. A lot are young and don’t have good coping skills. Then they get into some of the worst situations.”

The Army cancelled operations for three days in late May to focus attention on the situation.

At that point, 14 deaths during 2009 at the base had been ruled suicides or were under investigation as such. That is the highest number in this branch of the military.

“It’s a stressful area of ministry to deal with,” said Bob Melton, associational director of missions and a Vietnam war veteran. “I just talked to a guy who got back from Afghanistan. He said it was one of the most stressful times in his life.”

While the association’s Christian-based counseling is one of the leading ways Kentucky Baptists are helping military personnel, area churches are also reaching out to soldiers and their families.

Todd Gray, pastor of Oak Grove First Baptist Church—where 50 percent of its members are active duty soldiers and another 25 percent are retired military—has observed the difficulties affecting those deployed on multiple occasions.

After the first, they’re glad to be home and in a couple weeks return to their routine, Gray said. But that readjustment period lengthens each time, he said.

“There’s a prevailing hopelessness that seems to get hold of combat veterans,” Gray said. “I think the way post traumatic stress disorder works is being under protracted stress for extended periods of time takes a toll on the mind and body.”

The Oak Grove church addresses one aspect of such challenges by offering its facility for monthly meetings of Honoring Our Wounded Warriors, a support group for wounded soldiers.

The church also sends care packages to members while they are overseas, prays for them and makes sermons available by CD and via its web site.

They also help families with various chores during deployments.

In addition, First Baptist is searching for a part-time staff member to lead a ministry to couples—which it offered in the past until the directors moved to another state.

Still, the pastor said its leading solution is to focus on spiritual matters.

“Psychological and medical help lack the ability to impart hope,” Gray said. “So to me it’s a spiritual issue and the best way to combat it is the Holy Spirit.”

Hillcrest Baptist Church in Hopkinsville has a strong military presence in its congregation, although the numbers have decreased lately because of frequent deployments.

Those who are left face difficult challenges, said Pastor Greg Giltner.

“We have men in the church who have served three times in Iraq and sometimes are separated for 15 months from their families,” the pastor said. “If they’ve been (at Fort Campbell) for five years, they’ve been deployed three-fourths of that time.”

For those left behind, the congregation does much of its outreach through Sunday school classes, helping families of deployed soldiers.

In addition to fixing such items as lawn mowers and washing machines, one class put a roof on a soldier’s home, Giltner said.

However, Hillcrest Baptist tries not to single them out.

“Once they get to the church they’re incorporated into the family and we don’t look at them any differently,” Giltner said. “That’s what they want.”

Among the outreaches New Work Fellowship of Hopkinsville offers are support groups and small groups primarily made up of military spouses.

The Kentucky Baptist church, which averages 500 in two Sunday services, has a large banner in its foyer reading, “Welcome Home Our Heroes.”

In May, Pastor Kevin Lee led a devotional at a surgical hospital on the base. He also fields weekly counseling calls or visits with soldiers who need a listening ear.

Last fall several members worked on a Chamber of Commerce committee to organize a non-denominational worship service during a community military salute.

And, just before the last school year started, New Work organized a drive to provide free school supplies to an elementary school where 80 percent of the students come from military families.

“Operation Backpack” wound up getting enough materials to help children from five schools.

While all that is of help, Lee said the first thing the congregation is trying to do is provide a home where soldiers can let their hair down.

“The main thing is we’re trying to provide them a safe place where they can be who they are and find hope,” Lee said. “There is a fear of appearing weak or that (something) will get into their records. That creates a danger of insulation, which becomes isolation.”

That isolation can turn into anxiety, depression, insomnia or a short fuse when it comes to family or other stresses, said Self, who joined Cornerstone Counseling a year ago.

She loves being part of a Christian-based service, since she feels much freer to pray with clients than during a 30-year career in general counseling.

“I feel it’s important to accept whatever value system they have but I try to introduce Christian values,” said Self, a member of First Baptist Church of Hopkinsville.

“I offer to pray with people, and nine out of 10 love that. I feel called into this kind of ministry. I lean heavily on the Holy Spirit. I believe he has directed me and will continue to show me how to help these people.”