“When tragedy strikes, no one is fully prepared to deal effectively with all the responsibilities, emotional trauma, and grief that begin to impact people. Our Rapid Response Team exists so that people can find the care and comfort of Jesus Christ in the midst of a tragedy.” — Billy Graham
History
In the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, a Billy Graham Prayer Center opened near Ground Zero. Afterwards, the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team was established to assist the Church community in appropriately sharing the Gospel with those affected by a man-made or natural disaster.
Watch more exciting videos about the Rapid Response Team »
Get Involved
The Rapid Response Team deploys volunteer chaplains and offers three types of training:
- Rapid Response Team Regional Training for Churches
— one day, eight locations in 2008. - His Presence in Crisis Regional Training
— one and a half days, four locations in 2008. - Chaplain Training Conference at The Cove
— three days, Asheville, N.C.
“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” — Matthew 9:36-38 (NKJV)
Rapid Response Team in Action
In response to the tragic shooting that killed 33 people on the Virginia Tech campus in April 2007, the BGEA immediately deployed more than 25 Rapid Response Team Chaplains to Blacksburg, Va. As a result, Chaplains have prayed with more than 1,900 people at Virginia Tech, and more than 100 have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior. Rapid Response Team Chaplains also opened a 24-hour Care Line for people to call to receive grief counseling.
In May 2007, a powerful tornado destroyed the small town of Greensburg, Kan., killing 8 people and leaving all residents of the town homeless. Within 24 hours, three of the BGEA’s Rapid Response Team Chaplains were on site in Greensburg to counsel victims of this tragic storm and share the love of Jesus Christ.
More than 2,000 trained Chaplains from BGEA were deployed to the Gulf Coast after the hurricanes of August 2005, and they remained in the area for 21 months, which allowed them to pray with more than 47,000 victims of these storms and see more than 2,900 come to faith in Jesus Christ.
Recent needs have been great, so please pray for the crucial ministry of the Rapid Response Team Chaplains as they comfort many people with God’s peace.
