New Bible aimed at coping with deployment

A lot of military spouses in Colorado Springs know this as gospel truth: It’s not easy being left behind when a partner is deployed. When a family crisis arises, when a child gets sick, when the unexpected happens, it all falls on the person who stays at home.

To help the people on the homefront cope, the Colorado Springs-based International Bible Society has come out with a special-edition Bible, “Finding Hope Beyond the Battle,” which will be released next week.

Besides the regular scriptures, the Bible includes the stories of 12 women and one man whose spouses are in the military. They write about their trust and faith in God, deployments, moves, marital stress, illness, fear and anger. Citations to biblical passages accompany each story.

More than 55,000 of the Bibles (the NIV translation) will be distributed to chaplains in the military services, National Guard and reserves for distribution to family support groups. Individuals can also purchase it directly from the International Bible Society for $3.99 at ibsdirect.com or by calling 1-800-524-1588.

“The idea is that service members might be in a physical battle far away, but the spouses and families left at home are fighting another kind of battle — raising kids, dealing with finances, being both mother and father,” says retired Army Col. Chuck Adams, who is now the International Bible Society’s director of military ministry.

Contributing editor Cindy Brown, whose husband is with U.S. Northern Command, used her military friendships to find spouses to tell their stories. The authors are identified only by first names, so they “could pour their hearts out,” she says.

The stories include one woman’s breast cancer fight, another’s miscarriage, a dad who has to be “Mr. Mom” and a woman who, after her husband was killed in Iraq, eventually married another soldier.

Brown says all the struggles that military families ordinarily face are magnified when there is a deployment and the spouse left at home suddenly becomes a “half of a couple.” The new Bible, she says, goes directly to this community.

“If you are out in the middle of Iowa dealing with a husband who is deploying or helping an injured spouse who has returned, it is comforting to get encouragement like this from others and from the Bible.”

She believes civilians will find the special-edition Bible helpful, too. “So many people are supporting the troops or know military families. This shows them what life is like on the inside and how to live life courageously.”