Editor’s Note: If you are in crisis, please call 1-800-273-8255 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You are not alone.
As the chaplain for Racine County in Wisconsin, Anthony Balistreri has seen a great deal of despair on the job when counseling individuals—either law enforcement officials or prisoners.
Whether it’s the thought of long-time incarceration, the COVID-19 virus or the rigors and perils of the job as a police officer, Balistreri has seen it all.
But what concerns Balistreri the most is the fear he encounters among young people—especially in Millennials, Generation X and Generation Z. Incredibly, he sees people who are making well over $100,000 a year in their jobs. These individuals are living with the stress and anxiety that has gripped the entire country over the past year and a half, and he’s developed a program to help them bring spiritual focus to their lives and to trust in the Lord.
“Suicide amongst law enforcement officers is at an all-time high,” Balistreri told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “There is a program that I’m just starting, mostly for young people. I’m talking to younger people, men and women, from age 18 to 30 every day.
“When COVID started, there was a lot of emotions, a lot of fear—a spirit of fear. The younger people kind of kept a stiff upper lip … but their whole concept of life was different.
“I look at their work ethic, what they’re doing, what they give up, what they’re changing for, both in and out of COVID, and how that relates to their spirituality. Most of them have physical trainers, so they can be accountable for their physical growth … But I’m setting up a spiritual trainer for them, so they can be accountable for their spiritual growth—to be accountable for the Word that they’re learning and how they are exercising that, how they are taking it to their family and their job and the community, how they’re spiritually growing according to the Word of God.”
For more on Anthony Balistreri’s incredible story of spiritual growth among young law enforcement officers, listen to this entire podcast here. Subscribe to Greenelines on your favorite podcast platform to never miss engaging and inspiring content like this.{eoa}
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