It’s a crisp, sunny morning in St. Louis, and the tables inside First Free Church are stacked high with bagels and coffee cups. More than 150 teens are hanging out, laughing and visiting with their friends in the lobby.
It’s time to deal with death and tragedy.
While this may seem an odd crossroads of setting and topic, the gathered young people all understand why they are there.
The group is taking part in a recently developed initiative implemented by the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team to train and equip teens to offer hope to their friends in times of crisis, and to deploy as student chaplains with the ministry following disasters.
“The student chaplain training was developed to help equip students who really face crisis every day,” said Billy Graham Rapid Response Team Director Jack Munday, who helped lead the youth event, “to know how to engage in conversation and to appropriately share God’s hope through Christ with their friends and classmates and those that they have a relationship with.
“So many of them want to help but they haven’t really been trained to know what to do or what to say, and we believe that this training is a valuable resource to help kids who love the Lord and want to share that love with others.”
Students who took part in the training on Nov. 12 were equipped with both biblical and practical strategies to help meet the spiritual and emotional needs of their peers who are dealing with tragedies in their lives.
“It’s usually not the kind of crisis that you would think of like a flood or a tornado or they lost their house or a hurricane or anything,” Katherine Galvin, 13, said. “It’s usually things like family breakups or divorce or illness or deaths or bad relationships.
“And it’s really great to have this training to know how to share God’s love with them and to comfort them.”
A common theme echoed throughout the day involved the importance of peer-to-peer relationships and the unique ability that young people have to comfort each other.
“It’s important that the Rapid Response Team is training young people because there’s just a need in the younger generation for people that they trust and people their age that they can talk to and not worry about being judged or looked down upon,” said JesseRuth Parrish, a teen from North Carolina who traveled to St. Louis to share her story of losing her brother in a tragic accident.
Earlier this year, Parrish ministered to and comforted both teens and adults in Tucson, Ariz., following the shooting involving Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and in Tuscaloosa, Ala., after the historic tornado disaster.
“I see it all the time in our group,” said Don Erehart, pastor of student ministries at First Free Church. “Every week there’s a crisis in somebody’s life, and I can only do so much as an adult at a distance, but these guys are with them every day. They’re in schools with them. They’re friends with them. They can certainly make a difference, and I think sometimes they forget that. Today was a great reminder that God wants to use them.”
While many may discount the impact that a teen can have in the lives of those who are grieving, those who went through the training were adamant that, when properly equipped, they can be used to offer hope in times of despair.
“I think teens can definitely offer hope in crisis,” said 16-year-old Lincoln Carper. “One of my favorite verses is when one of the apostles is talking about not letting anyone look down on you because you’re young.
“Really, what keeps us from having an impact is us not wanting to take a step out of our comfort zone. But when we take that step—when we open our lives to let Jesus work through us—then we’re really able to perform in the fullness of His will and calling on our lives.”
The training in St. Louis follows an initial student training that took place in 2010 in Charlotte, N.C. Two more student trainings in Philadelphia and North Carolina are planned for early 2012.
“I believe it’s important to train young people to share hope in crisis because they are the future of the church,” said Munday. “They are the ones who are out there every day rubbing shoulders with others who are going through an incredible, difficult time of their life, more so than ever before.
“When we surveyed the students at the training by asking the question, ‘How many of you know someone who is in crisis right now?’ just about 100 percent of them raised their hands.”
The teens who took part in the training on Saturday don’t need any convincing that it’s of vital importance to go through the seminar.
Following the training, Carper said, “God has a calling on each of our lives and He wants us to be doing things for His Kingdom, but we have to hold up our part. He will open the doors but if we don’t have our part set—if we don’t do our part to know how to minister to people—that could be a huge opportunity lost.”
His sister, Carolyn Carper, 12, added, “I’d recommend this training for all my friends because it just really equips you. It shows you what to say, what not to say; it encourages you to go out and find those people who are in crisis so you can minister to them and show them God’s true love.”
For more information on upcoming adult and student “Sharing Hope in Crisis” trainings, visit www.billygraham.org/rrt.
