By Donna Miles / American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2004--Sometimes the best help for someone who's lost a loved one is a caring person willing to listen as they talk out their feelings of anger, fear, sadness and grief. Operation Stephen's Touch launched this week to offer trained listeners who do just that, and with Memorial Day just around the corner, the service is reaching out to grieving military families.

Operation Stephen's Touch is an outgrowth of the Stephen Ministries, a non-denominational ministry that has offered one-on-one confidential listening service to those in need since 1975. The service differs from traditional counseling sessions because it focuses, not on offering advice, but on giving people a chance to verbalize their feelings in a nurturing, supportive environment, according to Operation Stephen's Touch founder Marilyn Peterson.

Peterson understands firsthand the trauma of loss. Ten years ago, her own husband, a Vietnam veteran, died at age 45 of complications from Agent Orange exposure. Peterson said she longed at the time to talk candidly and confidentially to someone who cared as she struggled with her many emotions.

“Family and friends offer comfort and solace, but sorrow is exhausting to them and to the bereaved,” she said. “A compassionate but neutral listener helps relieve some of

the emotional burden so you can move forward.”

Although Stephen Ministries is a Christian-based organization, Peterson said its trained listeners don't proselytize; they simply listen. Those seeking help don't require any church affiliation, and the listener will pray for them during the session only if the person wants it, she said.

Stephen Ministries has grown dramatically during the past 29 years and now includes more than 8,000 congregations from more than 100 denominations representing all 50 U.S. states, nine Canadian provinces and 21 other countries.

Peterson is expanding its outreach to let spouses, parents, siblings and children of military personnel who died in the line of duty know that a caring listener is available for them if they need it. “We want them to know that there are people out there who care and a safe place where they can talk and let their true feeling out,” she said.