Ben Peterson, founder of Engage Your Destiny, shares his journey from Iraq combat veteran struggling with trauma and suicidal ideation to building a faith-based ministry on 10 U.S. military bases. His approach combines emotional intelligence training, community building, and spiritual formation to combat military suicide—a crisis where active service members are 9x more likely to die by suicide than in combat. He also discusses his new book on navigating AI safely while maintaining our God-given identity as creators. Ben's new book - When Intelligence Isn't Human: Navigating Your Faith in the Age of AI - comes out August 25th, 2026. Learn more about Engage Your Destiny here! Ben Peterson is the driving force behind Engage Your Destiny—one of the most impactful movements bringing the Gospel to the U.S. military. Ben served in Iraq during the 2008–2009 Surge as a Chaplain’s Assistant—both bodyguard and ministry support—where he lost seven brothers in his first week in combat. Carrying trauma, addiction, and deep brokenness, he turned to God and emerged with a mission: to help transform the most powerful fighting force in the world through the hope of Christ. Engage Your Destiny is rapidly expanding across the military and influencing lives internationally. In 2022, Ben launched the Heroes Honor Festival, a historic “welcome home” event for Vietnam Veterans. It featured Toby Keith, Gov. Ron DeSantis, Oliver North, and partnerships with Toyota, The American Legion, Harley-Davidson, Humana, NASCAR, and Fox Nation—drawing more than 40,000 attendees. It became the largest Gospel outreach to veterans in American history. Over the last decade, more than 300,000 service members, veterans, and families have heard Ben’s message. He has been trusted to train and speak across elite units including the 101st Airborne, 3rd, 5th, and 10th Special Forces Groups, the 75th Ranger Battalion, Navy SEALs, Recon Marines, Space Force, the 11th Arctic Airborne, and the 4th Infantry Division. Ben’s passion is raising, equipping, and leading men that other men will follow. He has personally raised over $14 million for nonprofit causes and advises nonprofits, companies, churches, and senior leaders on building cultures of emotional intelligence, resilience, and bold vulnerability. As one Fortune 500 Founder & CEO said: “Ben is on a mission. His passion is contagious. He is the best speaker I’ve ever worked with.” Check out our Facebook page; find us on Instagram or send us an email at theonepebblepod@gmail.com. You can also watch this episode on YouTube!
