OSU Tour has immediate opportunities for expanding its impact on our armed forces. Below are just a few.

1st) Tough-Man Meetings

These scheduled events take place one week after our live entertainment shows on military bases inside the United States. We use a personal touch approach at our shows to invite military personnel to attend these events. They are held in auditoriums on base and last approximately 3 hours. It’s a boot camp for the soul. We stress the fact that soldiers need proper training to be successful in war, right? So how can they fight the enemy that destroys their homes and children unless they are properly trained. These meetings are all about training to live life to the fullest, God’s way. Some would call it discipleship. We have many of our OSU Tour performers, NFL athletes, and former and current military commanders speak at these events. It’s also another place that we can empower and encourage chaplains to fulfill their roles. We feel these meetings will keep the fires burning long after we’re gone.

2nd) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - Launching a Task Force

Our last year of meetings included many discussions and training in regards to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD. Our recent discussions with military commanders returning from Iraq about the conditions of their troops were very alarming. The statistics facing our troops returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan remain unsolved by the admittance of our armed forces. CNN just reported that possibly 1 out of 3 will return home with some type of Post Traumatic Stress. In our conferences we’ve learned, and are encouraged, that individuals can indeed become totally healed from this wounding of the soul called PTSD. We are of the belief that God plays a major role in the mending of a wounded soul. We are currently linking, arm in arm, with professionals that have counseled 1000’s of soldiers and have at times seen amazing results through the work of the Lord. With your help we can be a force of healing for our troops in the future. Many believe that the number of our troops that will face PTSD in the near future will far exceed what was experienced in Vietnam. Many top commanders will not seek help regarding PTSD, even though they suffer from it, because of the black mark placed on their service record, and their personal rank advancement might also be impeded. OSU Tour can help, and we are very serious about exhausting all avenues to help our troops regarding PSTD in the future. Only with your help can we make that happen.

3rd) Supplying Airline Tickets

We would also like to supply airline tickets for mothers and wives to see their sons and husbands injured in combat and in hospitals overseas. In a recent discussion we had with Admiral Mark Fox the questions was asked, “If there were 3 things that our troops really needed, that we could help provide to our troops, what would those be?” After a short pause Admiral Fox said, “Our troops are transported to a hospital immediately after they are wounded in combat, if their condition permits travel they are then transferred out of Iraq to Germany.” He said, “Can you imagine the wife of a wounded husband or the mother of a wounded son and how they must feel about not being able to purchase an airplane ticket to go see if the wounded loved one is okay?” It would be a huge blessing to a soldier that has been wounded in combat to wake up in a hospital and the first face they see is their love ones. With your help OSU Tour can supply a deep need and afterwards give an entire family “the word of faith.”

4th) Armed Forces Fathering Initiative

Challenging men to impact their families, and ultimately their world, through fulfilling the proper role of the father.

• To honor, encourage and restore the proper father role, specifically within the military.
• To facilitate seminars and conferences on every military base in the nation to address negative issues facing fathers. (IE, sex, pornography, raising children, anger, suicide, financial distress, wives, etc.)
• To implement strategies, hold regular training sessions, and encourage men who are actively engaged in the fathering.
• To implement a strategy that establishes “fathers coaches” in multiple groups on ever military base in the nation.
• To implement a strategy that encourages men, teaches them how, and produces surrogate fathers. **Note: There are over 20 million children living in single-parent homes.

5th) Deployed Gift Packages - "Freedom Packets"

We send care packages to soldiers on the front lines of the war in Iraq. We call them “Freedom Packets” because the truth will set you free. Included in each “Freedom Packet” is:

• Greeting card
• 75 Minute Phone Card
• White Socks
• Baby Wipes (suggested by Col Oliver North)
• Gideon’s pocket size New Testament
• Extreme Sports “Livin It”  DVD
• and an assortment of snacks.

We ship them to Iraq free of charge to soldiers. The approximate cost per package is $50. Two items – phone cards and shipping cost – account for approximately half that total amount. Most of the items were donated at no cost to support our troops. Your donation helps us send a clear message that God cares, including their mind, body and soul.

6th) Phone Cards

Supplying phone cards so troops can call home is also a great need.  This was the second need that was suggested in our discussions with Admiral Fox as well as many other commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan. When fathers are away from their families for 15 months at a time or "daddy's little girl" is stationed in Iraq for long periods of time, you can never call home enough. We need to keep fathers in their homes and daughters with their daddies, even if it’s from thousands of miles away. Your donation can keep families communicating during the toughest times of their lives.

To find out how you can help OSU Tour expand its impact on our armed forces, click here.