Bryan was twenty six and his life was out of control. Overwhelmed by the responsibilities of life and marriage, he tried to drown his troubles in alcohol. “I knew I needed a change, and if something didn’t change, I was going to lose my wife,” he says.

Desperate to make a change, Bryan enlisted in the Army. He soon discovered the military wouldn’t save him. Following the birth of his first child, he was deployed to a dangerous, Taliban-controlled warzone in Afghanistan.

Bryan was seriously injured in a surprise attack. He was devastated to hear the doctor’s words: “You’ll never be the man you once were.”

Bryan hit rock bottom. “I knew that I was going to take my own life,” he says.

Feeling useless and hopeless, Bryan attempted suicide. But, he says, “I failed.”

A neighbor found Bryan and rushed him to the hospital, saving his life. On his way back from the hospital, Bryan ran into someone who invited him to a Bible study. He learned that God was near him, even in combat, even through suffering and darkness.

Through this Bible study, Bryan gave his life to Christ. “For the first time, I realized I wasn’t alone,” he says. “Most people who are going to take their lives are searching for answers. The Bible is that answer.”

Slowly, through the Bible, Bryan began to find freedom from the trauma he’d endured. He now has four children and is grateful for how God has redeemed his life. “The Bible entered my story because I realized that my only hope to get myself out of trouble was knowing God’s Word.”

American Bible Society’s financial partners are making an eternal difference in the lives of American heroes like Sgt. Bryan. Many like Bryan are finding hope to go on through God’s Word. Because of our partners’ support, Armed Services Members can now say, “Because God’s always with me, I’m never alone.”

American Bible Society’s Never Alone website offers encouragement, wisdom, and biblical resources for Armed Services Members and Veterans suffering from the pain of trauma. Bryan encourages those who have suffered the wounds of war to visit NeverAloneMilitary.com. He notes, “Not everyone is called to fight, but everyone is called to serve. And sometimes serving is pointing [someone] to a website.”