A beacon of hope to veterans and service men and women.

It’s all about hope. Our vision is to be a beacon of hope to our veterans and service men and women who are suicidal and in need of emotional support.

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A Problem Worth Solving

Active duty and prior service military are seeing record breaking suicides due to a vast array of reasons, including: hopelessness, lack of belonging, and loss of purpose.

  • Over 25 service members take their life per day
  • Suicides are the 2nd leading cause of death among service men and women
  • The suicide rate for veterans between the ages of 18-34 years old has increased 76%
  • Every suicide affects an estimated 135 surviving individuals

At Operation Watch Over, we believe that suicide is an enemy that can be dealt with and defeated with the proper weapons.

faith based suicide prevention organization

Our Solution:

Spiritual Healing and Restoring Hope

While there are various issues that could lead a person to taking their own life, the basic need is to find HOPE again. Hope allows those that are suffering to realize that their life is valuable and that they can live free of the tormenting thoughts that would drive them to want to end their life. 

We believe that the key to restoring this hope is faith.

There is positive data accumulating that verifies that faith based solutions are having greater success at preventing suicide than traditional approaches – and, we believe there’s a reason for that.

Most suicide prevention programs are lacking the spiritual aspect in their “solution”. Implementing spiritual healing through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Truth of God’s Word is critical in healing the whole person; spirit, soul and body. When a person is spiritually dead or broken in their soul, our solution leads them to hope, life and wholeness.

Our 4-Stage Process

We believe the best approach to combating this epidemic of military suicide is a battle tested 4-Stage Process.

Initial Call

The initial phone call (first point of contact) begins with active listening by the prayer minister. The goal is to understand what the individual is experiencing and going through. From there the prayer minister follows up with questions that help determine the root issue(s) and how to proceed into ministry/prayer.

Prayer/Ministry

Once it’s understand what the individual is experiencing and the likely root cause of it, the prayer minister is able to minister to those areas with the truth of God’s Word. This is where lies are exposed and the truth is able to set them free.

Follow Up

After ministering to and praying for the individual, we always make it a point to follow up with them. We make sure they are doing well and are in a positive state of mind. From here we proceed into our final stage, Discipleship.

Discipleship

Discipleship is where we believe true transformative, lasting change occurs. We keep in contact with the individual and disciple them for an ongoing period of time. This allows us to remain by their side as they continue forward into freedom.

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Meet Our Founder and Fellow Veteran

Mark Cattelona served in the United States Armed Forces from the 1970’s to the 1980’s at Edwards AFB. While Mark enjoyed much of his lifetime in the military, there were also dark, overwhelming times that he experienced both before and after his service. During his time of service, he struggled with drugs, depression, and eventually decided to attempt to take his own life. Thankfully his wife showed up in time and his attempt at suicide was unsuccessful.

Mark decided to create a faith based suicide prevention organization to pray with and disciple veterans and active service members dealing with thoughts of suicide, depression and the effects of PTSD. Our ultimate goal is for these amazing people of service to experience complete healing and freedom and to enjoy the life they were created to have.

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Mark Cattelona founder of Operation Watch Over

Join with Us

There is positive data accumulating that verifies that faith based solutions are having greater success at preventing suicide than traditional approaches.

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