Serve in the Field You’ve Been Planted (Robert Caridi) | S1E12

In this episode of the Warrior Hope podcast I talk with Pastor Robert Caridi, a leader I met when he attended our first Centers of Hope leader training event this past February in Birmingham, Alabama. Robert was born to in an Italian-American family in North Bellmore, New York. He was raised Roman Catholic, and followed all the required religious practices attending mass regularly. He graduated college with a BS in Education, and earned a Master’s in Special Education— a subject he taught for 30 years. He married to Theresa (who joined him with us in Birmigham) back in 1983 and we continued our religious practices. But, grace entered the equation…   In March 1989 they attended Neighborhood Assembly of God and heard the message of freedom preached. In his words, “Both my wife and I gave our hearts to the Lord that day and were born again. Since that day, by God's grace, we never looked back.” Caridi had a pastor who preached verse-by-verse through the Bible, thereby giving him a foundation of faith that he’s learned to apply everywhere in the world. In January 2015, his Pastor was killed in a car accident in upstate New York. I walked the congregation through the healing process of this tragic loss… then, something unexpected happened…. They voted on as an Interim Pastor… Then, not much time later, they asked him to become the Senior Pastor. For 3 1/2 years, he pastored the church while finishing my career in education.   In June 2018, he retired from teaching and has been leading the Neighborhood Assembly (the name of his church). I asked Robert to join us because his church saw a unique opportunity to serve veterans. A lot of times church leaders reach out to us and wonder, “What do I do? Or are there veterans around here?” Robert talks about some of the tough questions he’s helped veterans navigate (i.e., there’s a difference between murder, which is wrong, and killing, which warriors sometimes have to do). And he discusses the necessity of building trust…. He answers questions about medications (some people think they’re “all bad,” others thing medication is THE exclusive way to go… he offers us a 3rd option). He talks about connecting veterans to other veterans, and staying in touch without being pushy…. And, he discusses the power of story…. Here’s how it all happened. Quite simply, he served the people right before him at each step of the way.   ++++++++++ To learn more about Caridi’s church, go to http://bellmoreag.org/who-we-are/our-leadership  To find the Warrior Hope manual on Amazon, go to: https://amzn.to/2OCd5zs  Or, locate the leader guide here: https://amzn.to/2ZBnCRF