August 14, 2024
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Susan and I were walking behind Clay and Jake the day before they deployed to Iraq. We had just finished eating lunch at an outdoor mall. No one seemed to take much notice of them as they strolled along in their t-shirts, shorts and flip flops. I leaned into Susan and said, “These people have no idea how powerful these two guys are.” Little did we know how prophetic that observation would be, how they, in spite of great tragedy and loss, would go on to impact the world for good.
Clay and Jake met when Clay joined the Marines in 2005. They deployed to Iraq in January, 2007. While on patrol, Clay’s wrist was shot out from under his chin by an enemy sniper’s bullet. He recovered, but was diagnosed with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and began to have anxiety and panic attacks.
When their battalion came home, Jake and Clay decided to go to Scout Sniper School and graduated in February, 2008. Their scout sniper teams shipped out to Afghanistan a month later. They returned to the states in October, 2008. During that deployment, their battalion lost 20 marines, 160 were wounded, several severely. Their battalion was called the “hardest hit battalion in the Corps that year.” Clay was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in April, 2009.
Clay cherished his time in the Marines, his purpose in serving his country and the fellowship that was built with his band of brothers.
After Clay and Jake were discharged from active duty, they began to reengage in civilian life. Jake applied to graduate school and Clay enrolled in Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles, going about attempting to heal from his PTSD, survivor’s guilt and moral injury.
In January, 2010, Jake was watching the news about the catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti. He felt he could help. He was a Marine and had experience dealing with chaos. He called the Red Cross and asked to volunteer but they couldn’t get him there fast enough. So, he decided to “self-deploy.” He called a few friends, including Clay, posted on Facebook that he was on his way to Haiti, and invited others to join him. Clay joined Jake, as well as a handful of others he met along the way – veterans, first responders, and a medical doctor.
Their core group entered Port-Au Prince, Haiti one week after the earthquake. They immediately established field medical facilities, and secured transportation to those facilities for thousands of injured Haitians during a month-long stay in that ravaged country. Their group was on the ground saving lives long before the Red Cross and other institutional organizations were up and running. Clay found his true calling for service in the chaos of Haiti. Clay, Jake and the other team members, with their warrior mentality and compassion for others, were the perfect combination to deliver medical and other humanitarian aid to those so desperately in need.
Team Rubicon was born.
Team Rubicon went back to Haiti several times, to Chile after its subsequent earthquake, and on to disasters in other countries. While growing its team of tens of thousands of volunteer veterans and first responders called “greyshirts,” it responded domestically to tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters.
Clay found peace and healing through disaster response and in serving others. Clay was passionate about helping folks like him who suffer from the invisible scars of battle-related trauma. However, he continued to struggle with PTSD, survivor’s guilt and moral injury. On March 31, 2011, the darkness and depression that he battled for so long overcame him. Clay took his life.
Somehow, Clay’s story attracted others – many others – to Team Rubicon. Through his story, Clay has become “everyman” for many. His story has resonated with veterans, first responders and civilians. Since its inception in Haiti in 2010, with Jake Wood’s leadership, Team Rubicon has grown to over 160,000 volunteer “greyshirts.”
There is a tremendous problem when active-duty military leave the service and are faced with assimilating back into civilian life. The military does a really good job of taking kids and making them mighty warriors. However, it doesn’t do a good job when it’s time for them to return to civilian life.
Jake and others realized that some of the greyshirts serving with Team Rubicon in its disaster relief efforts, were actually healing from some of the unseen wounds of war! They were feeling a sense of purpose again and experiencing the fellowship that had been missing in their civilian lives since being discharged.
Team Rubicon has continued to be a veteran-led humanitarian organization that serves global communities before, during, and after disasters and crises. The impact Team Rubicon provides is for both the survivors of disasters and humanitarian crises, as well as the veteran and civilian volunteers who find purpose, community, and identity through service to others. What started as a disaster relief organization became a source of healing through service.
Over the years, Susan and I have supported Team Rubicon through our prayers and presence in its activities. Soon after his death, Team Rubicon established the Clay Hunt Fellows Program, a leadership development fellowship program for veterans. I have been blessed to teach one of its leadership courses and had the opportunity to be with some of the finest people God ever created.
I’m sharing Clay’s story because it’s part of Susan and my story. God is using Clay’s story and Team Rubicon to His glory. Thank God that He has taken a terrible tragedy and shown us how Clay’s memory and legacy are being used by Him to impact so many.
Thank the Lord for Team Rubicon. Although it may not call itself a “church,” it is doing the work of Christ in the world. Team Rubicon is a force for good in the world.
And lastly, through our involvement with Team Rubicon, God has used Susan and me to help others and, in so doing, has helped us to heal a little more each day.
Praise the Lord!
*ROKU has produced a 13-episode documentary on Team Rubicon.
REMEMBER & BELIEVE
Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
In the meantime, no matter what you're struggling with, go out into the world and make a difference!
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, we come before You with hearts full of gratitude for the lives of those who serve others with selfless courage and compassion. We thank You for the example of Clay, Jake, and all the members of Team Rubicon, who have answered the call to be Your hands and feet in a world in need of healing. Lord, we ask that You continue to bless and guide the men and women of Team Rubicon in their mission, granting them the strength, wisdom, and love needed to bring hope to those in despair. We lift up all Your precious children who are struggling with the invisible wounds of trauma. May they find peace and restoration through Your grace, and may they experience the healing power of serving others in Your name. Surround them with Your comfort and bring them into communities where they can find purpose and belonging.
We also ask, Lord, that You continue to work in our own hearts, helping us to be instruments of Your peace in our daily lives. Use us to bring Your light into the darkest places. May we always remember that in serving others, we are serving You.
We praise You, Lord, for turning tragedy into testimony, for bringing beauty from ashes, and for using all things for Your glory. May we trust in Your plans and follow where You lead, knowing that You are with us always.
Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil and the evil one. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
Amen
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (NRSV)
God bless you!
Richard
Christ Worshipper | Disciple Maker | Hope Giver
Welcome to In the Meantime. I'm glad you're here! We are living in the time between Christ's ascension into heaven and His promised return to earth. In the Meantime is a collection of stories about God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and His presence, love, mercy and grace in my life. In the Meantime, Jesus is Lord! Hallelujah!
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