Two retired fire captains — now trained BGEA chaplains — are at the scene of the Black Forest fire in Colorado Springs. The fire has destroyed nearly 500 homes, making it the most destructive wildfire in Colo. history.

By Kristy Etheridge

When retired fire captains Chuck Bender and Ray Thompson arrived in Colorado Springs Saturday, they were welcomed by first responders working the perimeter of the massive Black Forest fire.

“We were here last year for the fires,” said Bender. “They know who we are. They know what we’re about. When we walked in there again, they said, ‘We’re really glad to have you guys.' "

As members of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, Bender and Thompson are crisis-trained chaplains who are there to offer spiritual and emotional support to the thousands of people affected by the most destructive fire in Colo. history.

This time last year, the team deployed to wildfires in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. The Waldo Canyon fire that tore through the Colorado Springs area in June-July 2012 destroyed 350 homes, making it the worst fire in the state’s history at the time. Just one year later, the Black Forest fire has surpassed its predecessor, destroying more than 480 buildings and killing two people.

As firefighters work to contain what’s left of the blaze, the chaplains are working to build relationships with first responders, disaster assistance groups, and residents—many unsure of what's next.

“A lot of these folks don’t know whether their house has burned or not,” said Bender. “One day the fire may have skipped their house, and then the next day the winds changed. So they may have some indication through word of mouth, but they’re just not sure.”

After 33 years with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Bender knows what it looks like when a family pulls up to a pile of rubble that used to be a home.

“When they drive up that driveway and they see charred ruins with a chimney sticking out of it, they’re in total shock,” said Bender.

The chaplains know they can’t bring anyone’s house, car or family photo album back. What they can do is listen, pray and gently guide homeowners to take the first step in picking up the pieces.

“Show up and shut up,” said Bender. “It’s a listening thing. We’re the hands and the feet of Jesus. Jesus loved on people and listened to their stories. We’re good story listeners. And in the process, there might be a time when we can pray for them. If they don’t have a church or a pastor to talk to, we can steer them in that direction.”

At least four more chaplains will head to Colorado Springs in the coming days.  In addition to manning a table at the disaster assistance center, they hope to be close at hand when homeowners return to their houses for the first time.

“There are a lot of homes affected,” said Bender. “It’s bad.”

Bender and Thompson have already prayed with half a dozen people in the area. They know there will likely to be many more opportunities in the days ahead.

In the meantime, they’re thanking God for downpours that knocked back the fire and are asking Him to comfort the loved ones of the two people who died. They’re also praying the Lord will calm the anxious hearts of those who have been displaced, as they wait to hear news of their homes.

Fore more information about the Rapid Response Team, click here. For photos and stories of the Tornado deployment, click here.

View this article on our Website

Looking back at the Sandy Hook elementary shooting deployment, the Rapid Response Team realizes the power of just being with those who are hurting and weeping with those who weep.

By Kristy Etheridge

It’s been six months since ten chaplains felt their hearts break as they drove into the shell-shocked village of Sandy Hook, inside Newtown, Conn.

The Dec. 14 shooting left 26 people, including 20 elementary school children, dead. It left parents, teachers, and first responders drowning in grief two weeks before Christmas.

The crisis-trained Rapid Response chaplains who ministered in Sandy Hook have since gone back to their homes and families. Time has marched on, but the sights and sounds of the traumatized community are seared into their memories.

“It was probably the worst deployment we’ve ever been on.” said chaplain Barb Grabowski. “The most shattering.”

Barb and her husband Leo, a retired police officer, traveled to Newtown, Conn., from their home in Fort Mill, S.C. Once there, they met up with eight other seasoned chaplains, including Ray and Suzanne Thompson from Laguna Niguel, Calif.

“Everybody was in shock,” said Barb Grabowski. “It was probably the strangest atmosphere I had ever been in. You just felt this quietness over the town.”

The chaplains who deployed to Newtown were some of the Rapid Response Team’s most experienced. They had responded to deadly tornadoes and hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires, even the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting. There was still no way to prepare for Sandy Hook.

 “These were children,” said Barb Grabowski. “It just didn’t make any sense.”

Inside Newtown’s ‘Ground Zero’

Praying God would use them wherever they were most needed, the chaplains found doors opening, leading them into the heart of the trauma.

“We were all in a counseling room with the teachers when they found out the kids who were alive and dead,” said Barb Grabowski.

 “They would say a name,” said Leo Grabowski. “A teacher would say, ‘He’s dead.”

The chaplains described some of the teachers as being almost in a trance. One by one, their students’ names were read.

“You’d hear, ‘She didn’t make it. She’s dead,’” said Leo Grabowski. “So what do you do? You can’t say a scripture verse. You just sit with them.”

Sandy Hook was the ultimate test of the chaplains’ faith and training. They had to dig deep to help others process a tragedy they couldn’t understand themselves. By the grace of God, they were able to persist. Along the way, they learned some lessons that could help others reach out to friends and family who are going through their own personal tragedies.

Pray Without Ceasing

It’s one of the shortest verses in the Bible, but 1 Thessalonians 5:17 is critical. It simply says, “Pray without ceasing.” (NKJV)

When Ray and Suzanne Thompson arrived in Newtown, the first thing they did was meet up with another pair of chaplains to pray.

“We pulled over into a little parking lot, and we prayed,” said Suzanne Thompson. “You can’t do anything until you bring the Lord into it.”

Throughout their time in Newtown, the chaplains called on the Lord frequently. Prayer, they said, is the only thing that allowed them to keep going.

“You have to totally rely on the Lord,” said Suzanne Thompson. “I get to a place where I can’t do it. I cannot do it. You pray every moment.”

Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak 

James 1:19 calls believers to speak less and listen more. This is a command the Rapid Response chaplains take very seriously in times of trouble.

“People in that state aren’t in any condition to be listening to other peoples’ stories,” said Suzanne Thompson. “The main thing is to listen to them.”

“You don’t compare it,” said Leo Grabowski. “This is their trauma. This is their tragedy.”

The chaplains also respected the fact that not everyone was immediately able to speak about what they had experienced. In those situations, they said it’s important to let the grieving person know that the lines of communication are open, and that you’ll be there when the time is right. 

“We’ve got to give them room,” said Barb Grabowski. “But keep those lines open. Be there for them.”

Weep with Those Who Weep

In Sandy Hook, the chaplains shed far more tears than words. In the midst of such severe loss, crying seemed the most appropriate response. 

In Romans 12:15, Paul writes, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” (NKJV)

Sometimes friends and family of those experiencing grief feel the need to “stay strong for their sake.” But the chaplains say it’s OK to cry along with them.

“Unless you have a heart of compassion like Christ did, you can’t do this job,” said Leo Grabowski. “And if you do have a heart of compassion, you’re going to cry as much as they are. This was primarily a ministry of letting people cry on your shoulder, and when they were finished, you’d cry on theirs.”

“There’s a chapter in Job that really portrays the ministry you do in a setting like that,” said Suzanne Thompson. “When Job’s friends tore their clothes, put dust on their heads, and wept. And then they just sat there.”

“The only thing we could be was present,” said Barb Grabowski. “There’s nothing you can do or say except be there.”

Ministering in the Toughest Times

In the days following the shooting, the chaplains did their best to support teachers, families, and first responders who had seen unspeakable images.

They prayed, listened, and cried. Most importantly, they leaned on Jesus, crying out to Him in their grief.

“It hurts,” said Barb Grabowski. “But He gives you the grace to go through it.”

Six months later, the chaplains continue to pray for Newtown. They know families are still grieving, and will be for a long time. It’s their prayer that God will surround those who are hurting with His presence—today, and next year, and always.

View this article on our Website

Once a year, hundreds of Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains and chaplain-hopefuls gather for a week of worship and crisis training at The Cove in Asheville, N.C. For one California man, the chance to attend the training is a dream two years and 2,500 miles in the making.

By Kristy Etheridge

Two years ago, John Kern spotted a notice about an annual chaplain training event in the mountains of North Carolina. He wondered, as he sat in his Modesto, Calif., office, if he would ever be able to go.

“I was always working,” said Kern. “I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll take a vacation from work or something.’”

That was in 2011. Feeling a tug on his heart to join the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, Kern penciled in the June 2013 chaplain retreat dates, not knowing how he would manage to get to the weeklong training in Asheville, N.C.

“I had it on my bulletin board for like, 15 months,” said Kern. “I kept praying. I’d look at it just about every day, and I’d think, ‘How is that gonna happen?’”

As he prayed, Kern began to sense that he was supposed to retire sooner than he had planned. The thought was a bit disconcerting; he had always intended to work until his wife could retire with him, but he couldn’t shake the idea that God had other plans.

A Heart for Disaster Ministry

The Rapid Response Team had been on Kern’s mind for years. He would read about the work the crisis-trained chaplains were doing around the United States and beyond.

“I’d read those articles, and I would weep,” said Kern. “Because what did Jesus do in his public ministry? Wherever the greatest need was, that’s where He went. I think the people in these situations have a great need, and I think it’s Jesus’ heart to reach out to them.”

The Lord confirmed Kern’s heart for disaster ministry when he traveled to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina with a group of volunteers from his church.

“Ever since then, it was like, I’ve got to do this,” said Kern.

Stepping Out in Faith

On May 3, 2013, after years of prayer, Kern resigned from his position as a federal investigator. A month later, he arrived at The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, ready for chaplain training. His wife couldn’t make the trip with him, but his brother-in-law, Richard Mac David, was up for the adventure.

“I’ve been retired for five years,” said Mac David. “I’ve just been playing golf and helping my wife. I have a giving ministry, and I know that I’m a servant, but I’ve only served the golf course.”

Determined to grow their relationship with the Lord and learn more about disaster chaplaincy, the two brothers-in-law are spending the week taking courses that will get them crisis-trained.

Sharing Hope in Crisis

Monday, Kern and Mac David joined nearly 300 others at The Cove for their first day of worship, fellowship, and training.

“I know that you can have a heart to reach out to people, but you’ve got to know what to say,” said Kern. “I want to make sure it’s biblically based and Spirit led, and I think the chaplaincy training will help me do that instead of blurting out something silly.”

Over the past decade, the Rapid Response Team has deployed to floods, fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, explosions, and shootings.

Hundreds of chaplains have helped care for the emotional and spiritual needs of people in the midst of tremendous loss and suffering.

Each Rapid Response chaplain must take a “Sharing Hope in Crisis” course as well as several “Critical Incident Stress Management” (CISM) courses. The CISM classes are recognized by FEMA and help chaplains learn crucial skills to prepare them for disaster deployment.

An International Ministry

During their week at The Cove, Kern and Mac David are joining chaplains and chaplain-hopefuls from around the world. The Rapid Response Team has active branches in Australia, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom. Each branch sent at least one representative to Asheville for the training.

“This week for me is like drinking water from a fire hydrant,” said Stewart Beveridge, who manages the Australian Rapid Response Team. “There’s just so much to take in. I value the relationships that get nurtured here this week, and the opportunity to walk alongside brothers and sisters in Christ who are motivated by loving and serving those in need. It’s inspiring.”

Kern is inspired, too.

“I’m just looking forward to being equipped, so I can minister to people effectively for the Lord,” Kern said. “I know I’m supposed to do it. This is going to help me be ready to do it.”

It took two years of prayer and a journey of more than 2,500 miles, but God was faithful. Now, He’s turning a note on a bulletin board into a much-anticipated pilgrimage—and a dream into reality.

View this article on our Website

The second tornado outbreak in less than two weeks prompted more than 200 people to take shelter at a Baptist church in Moore, Oklahoma, and after it was all over, Rapid Response Team chaplains had prayed with 11 people who gave their life to Christ.

By Richard Greene

Less than two weeks after a violent tornado cut a huge swath of destruction through Moore and south Oklahoma City—killing 24 people—another set of deadly tornadoes ripped through the area last Friday evening, once again striking fear and panic in weather-fatigued Oklahomans.

In the midst of this latest round of lethal storms, up to a couple hundred community residents sought refuge at Emmaus Baptist Church, the local base of operation for the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains and Samaritan's Purse, and nearly a dozen surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ and found peace that surpasses all understanding. Emmaus Baptist Church is located on South Western Avenue in the Oklahoma City area, not too far from areas ravaged by the May 20 killer tornado.

Just before 6 p.m. on May 31, a large, slow-moving cluster of supercell thunderstorms moved across central and northern Oklahoma, spawning five tornadoes. None were as powerful as the EF5 tornado that ravaged the area two Mondays ago, but these storms still claimed the lives of 16 people, including five children, and triggered heavy flooding when up to 10 inches of rain fell in a short time span.

Residents trying to flee the latest tornado onslaught rushed to Emmaus Baptist Church because they had heard about the good work stemming from the outreach by Samaritan’s Purse and the RRT chaplains throughout their community. The people felt it was a safe haven and also brought their pets along—dogs, cats and even guinea pigs—to escape the peril barreling down on them.

When warning sirens began blaring, about 150 Samaritan's Purse workers and eight RRT chaplains had just begun dinner. They left their chicken dinner on the tables inside the fellowship hall and rushed to pre-designated “safe rooms” off the church sanctuary.

Not too long after that, the church lost electricity, and people were escorted to an even safer location, where they crawled into a long and narrow cement and steel-girded alcove area underneath the sanctuary.

In the dark, people prayed, sang songs and quoted favorite Scripture verses. Many called family members at home, expressing their love and telling them they were safe. Some received text messages that they were being prayed for.

Unbeknownst to them, top Samaritan's Purse and RRT leadership were monitoring the rapidly deteriorating weather conditions outside. As conditions worsened and debris tossed through the air, the leaders noticed that cars began racing into the parking lot and panic-stricken residents dashed toward the church.

Doors required three people to push them open from the inside because of the falling air pressure, but people were able to squeeze through the open cracks. At least 200 people made it safely inside the church, where they huddled under tables in classrooms, as a tornado touched down about a mile or a mile and a half away.

Once an all-clear signal was issued about 90 minutes later, Samiratan's Purse workers and RRT chaplains emerged from their crawlspace shelter and began mingling with local residents. They laughed and cried together.

And they shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with their fellow survivors. Eleven people surrendered their hearts to Him.

One was a family of four, along with the husband’s best friend. Michael Glassey, an RRT crisis-trained chaplain from Riverside, Calif., talked with them, asking if they knew Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, which they responded “no.” Michael explained how much God loved them and how Jesus came to earth to die for their sins.

“I asked each one separately if they wanted to receive Christ as their personal Savior so that if this ever happened again they would have the assurance of going to Heaven, and that they could also experience a new beginning that very moment,” Michael said.

“They all said, ‘yes,’ and each received Christ into their hearts,” he said. “God sheltered them, then He saved them.”

Mike Booth, senior pastor of Emmaus Baptist Church for 20 years this July, said: “Emmaus Church had been designated as the lighthouse church for the Samaritan’s Purse command post, and even though we lost our electricity, we were still the shining beacon in the dark for people to come running to.”

Please pray that these new believers can be followed up and nurtured in their faith.

And pray for the ongoing work of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains.

View this article on our Website

The Rapid Response Team has deployed 35 crisis chaplains who have come along side and prayed with more than 2,400 people in Oklahoma. Ministry will be ongoing for weeks, if not months in Oklahoma.

Safe and Saved: Storm Survival in Oklahoma
The second tornado outbreak in less than two weeks prompted more than 200 people to take shelter at a Baptist church in Moore, Oklahoma, and after it was all over, Rapid Response Team chaplains had prayed with 11 people who gave their life to Christ.

One Oklahoma Family's Story of Salvation
When God used Rapid Response Team chaplains Jeff and Terri Naber to lead an Oklahoma tornado survivor to Christ, they had no idea He was just getting started. But after a divine appointment, six from the same family had surrendered their hearts to Jesus.

View this article on our Website

When God used Jeff and Terri Naber to lead an Oklahoma tornado survivor to Christ, they had no idea He was just getting started.

By Kristy Etheridge

Saturday Update: The Rapid Response Teams ministering in Oklahoma all survived the Friday evening oubreak of tonadoes. BGEA crisis-trained chaplains huddled with Oklahoma residents in Moore and Shawnee in storm shelters and reported God's presence carrying them through and serveral decisions made for Christ. Please keep the Oklahoma communities hit by the latest storms — as well as those around St. Louis — in your prayers this weekend.

Jeff and Terri Naber had to rely on GPS to track down the right address. The tornado had obliterated almost all the street signs in the Moore, Oklahoma neighborhood they were navigating.

When they finally pulled up to the right place, there was no home to mark the spot.

“The whole house—there was nothing, nothing left,” said Jeff Naber. “It was leveled.”

The Nabers are Rapid Response Team chaplains who arrived in Moore shortly after the deadly May 20 tornado to help meet the spiritual and emotional needs of residents who have been through the wringer.

Four days after the twister hit, Jeff and Terri showed up to meet a military veteran named Steve and his wife. Samaritan’s Purse volunteers had plans to clean up their property, and the chaplains wanted to see how the couple was holding up.

“Steve spent about 30 minutes telling us what they had been through,” said Jeff Naber. “They did have a storm shelter, so he and his wife and his son got into the shelter. The storm passed overhead. He could hear his house falling on the shelter.”

Steve said it felt like the tornado had stopped in its tracks, hovering over his family for what seemed like an eternity.

“It got to the point where we were screaming out to God—help us get through this,” Steve told the chaplains.

They did get through the storm, but as an eerie quiet settled over the neighborhood, Steve discovered a new problem. The shelter door wouldn’t open.

“They were trapped,” said Naber. “There was a whole house on top of the shelter.”

Steve used a hammer to bang on the door, calling and praying for help. It wasn’t long before his neighbor, Mario, answered his call.

“Mario’s not a big guy, but he was there, and he pulled pieces of Steve’s house off the shelter so they could get out,” said Naber. “Steve said he rescued them from being buried.”

Terri and Jeff sensed the Holy Spirit nudging them to find Mario and meet him, but he wasn’t around. The afternoon passed by quickly, and it was time to leave. That’s when Jeff spotted him, standing in his yard, staring at the remains of his home.

“There was just total despair,” said Naber. “I walked up to him and I could see it on his face. He was in shock. He showed us around his house, and I knew God was prompting me to ask him a question.”

Jeff’s wife, Terri, felt the same prompting.

“She said, ‘If you didn’t survive on Monday—if you were killed on Monday, where would you be right now, on Friday?’ He looked at us and said, ‘I don’t know,’ ” said Naber.

Jeff and Terri took the opportunity to tell Mario about Jesus.

“She explained to him that Jesus died for all of us, for our sins, and that His plan of salvation is there as a free gift,” said Naber.

They showed Mario what Romans 10:9 says.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

“We went through the steps to Peace with God, and Terri asked him if he wanted to pray to accept Christ as his Savior, and he did,” said Naber. “We prayed with him, and he accepted Christ right there, standing in what was left of his garage.”

Jeff and Terri were elated, but God wasn’t finished yet.

“The next question that I had for him was, ‘Where is your wife?’” said Naber.

Following some vague directions to look for a blue van, Jeff and Terri wound through the neighborhood in search of Mario’s wife, Beatrice, who was staying at their daughter’s house.

A few minutes later, they spotted the van and knocked on the door of the house. That same day, Beatrice also came to Christ.

As Jeff recalls the story, he gets especially excited about what happened next.

“This is what’s really, really cool,” he said. “So far, it’s awesome, but this is where things just go to a whole ‘nother level when it comes to faith and God.”

After Mario and Beatrice made decisions to follow Christ, they wanted Jeff and Terri to meet their children, but they just couldn’t track them down. Soon, it was time for the Nabers to leave. They were headed to the town of Shawnee, where they were assigned to work the remainder of their time in Oklahoma. They wouldn’t be back in Moore again.

But the next day, something unexpected happened that changed their course.

Jeff and Terry were driving down the highway in Shawnee when they came across a car accident. Everyone was OK, but a local Samaritan’s Purse volunteer was stranded. She needed a ride back to Moore.
The Nabers agreed to give her a lift. They went 40 miles out of their way, dropped her off with family members, and realized the neighborhood looked familiar.

“I realized that Mario’s house was only a half mile away,” said Jeff Naber. “We looked at each other and said, we’ve gotta go check on him.”

When they pulled up to the property, it looked totally different. Samaritan’s Purse had cleaned up the yard. Mario was there continuing to pick up the pieces, and this time, his whole family was with him.

“They all told us their story of where they were during the storm and how they survived, and we explained to them the free gift of salvation,” said Naber. “We asked each one of them if they were ready at this time to accept Christ as their savior and have eternal life, and all of them agreed.”

There, in the same spot where Mario had made a decision for Christ 24 hours earlier, four more family members prayed to accept Jesus into their lives.

“Isn’t God good?” said Naber. “It was His timing, that’s for sure. If that girl hadn’t have had that accident 40 miles away, we would have never been in a situation to explain the plan of salvation to four more people. Now that’s God’s plan. How can anybody deny that?”

Jeff Naber hurried over to a Samaritan’s Purse team leader to get his hands on some Bibles. He asked if Naber needed two of them.

“I said, ‘No, we need six,’” said Naber.

Jeff and Terri gave a new Bible to each member of the family, and walked away with a fresh appreciation for God’s goodness. In the midst of destruction and fear, the Lord had woven together a beautiful story of grace—a story that changed one family's world forever.

To help support Oklahoma and Texas storm victims with emotional and spiritual care, donate to the Rapid Response Team.

View this article on our Website

As Oklahoma residents grapple with grief and loss following a series of deadly tornadoes, crisis-trained Rapid Response Team chaplains are there to listen and pray.

By Kristy Etheridge

Update: Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, along with Greta Van Susteren of Fox News, visited Moore, Okla., on Friday to offer condolences. Graham came alongside the Rapid Response Team chaplains and Samartitan's Purse volunteers, who are ministering with those hurting in Oklahoma. “This is one of the deadliest storms in the last few years,” Franklin Graham said. “When you see this kind of destruction, you never get used to it.”

There’s a long, difficult road ahead for the Oklahoma residents who survived the deadly series of tornadoes earlier this week. The Billy Graham Rapid Response chaplains are simply there to walk that road with them.

Al and Toni New deployed to Moore, Oklahoma, where residents are reeling from the death and destruction that ripped through homes, businesses, and schools. Many people there vividly remember a similar scene from a tornado that hit the same community in 1999.

The scene is pretty familiar to Al and Toni, too. It reminds them of their time in Joplin, Miss.

“This was a horrible, horrible tornado,” said Toni New. “It looks a lot like Joplin. Houses just obliterated, torn all to pieces like pick-up sticks.”

She and her husband, both crisis-trained chaplains, are there to see past the damage and focus on the people—like a man who pulled up on his motorcycle, just wanting to talk.

“He pulled up to us and started talking and sharing his story,” said Toni New. “He told us just how afraid they were and how difficult it was to get through the tornado.”

After dozens of deployments in the wake of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and shootings, Al and Toni know listening is just as important—maybe more important—than speaking. Al listened to the man tell his story. Then he asked if he would like some prayer.

“We prayed with him,” said Toni New. “He was just so glad for that prayer. You could just see on his face that it touched him so much. It was like God just put him right there and drew him to us.”

The chaplains find that happens quite a bit. They pray for God to open doors, and watch Him work.

“Our goal and our focus is to come alongside the homeowners, the family members who have just gone through this terrible disaster, and to be a ministry of presence to them,” said Toni New. “Just showing them the love of Jesus Christ and somehow letting them know that He’s going to be there with them and send people to help them.”

The chaplains are working side by side with volunteers from Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, who is also president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Together, the two ministries help meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of people who have survived the storm.

While Al, Toni, and a group of other chaplains focus on Moore, another group is at work 40 miles down the road, in Shawnee, Okla.

Rapid Response Team chaplains Desi and Carolin Perez arrived in Shawnee less than 24 hours after a deadly tornado struck the small community. They’ve been working with Samaritan’s Purse and a local church to care for residents who aren’t sure how to pick up the pieces.

“We met one man who just just didn’t know where to start,” said Carolin Perez. “There’s just an overwhelming sense of emotional distress.”

Carolin and Desi listened to the man’s story. His home was damaged in the tornado, and he’s waiting to speak with an insurance adjuster. Then he has a long list of decisions to make.

“I prayed specifically for God to give him direction and wisdom for the decisions that he and everyone faces when they go through something like this,” said Carolin. “He was grateful.”

The chaplains are also serving as a quiet presence at funerals and visitations that are open to the public. Wednesday night, Carolin and Desi presented a family Bible to a woman who lost a loved one in the Shawnee tornado.

“She was very appreciative and welcomed us praying with her,” said Carolin Perez.

In the days to come, as the news crews disperse, more chaplains will arrive. The long journey to recovery is just beginning.

No one can take away the pain, fear, and loss felt by the people of Oklahoma; the chaplains are just there to show them they don’t have to go through it alone.

To help support Oklahoma and Texas storm victims with emotional and spiritual care, donate to the Rapid Response Team.

View this article on our Website

Stories of hope and heartbreak are emerging from the wreckage of the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, as trained chaplains with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team begin ministering to the survivors of the deadly storm.

By Erik Ogren

Survivors of the deadly Oklahoma tornado were able to return to the twisted remains of their homes in some neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, and chaplains Jeff and Terri Naber were with them immediately as they begin the process of recovery.

Plaza Towers

“Terri and I were in the Plaza Towers neighborhood in Moore, and we saw a little boy running around without a shirt on. I asked him where his shirt was, and he said he didn’t need it. He said it hurt his back, and it was itchy. Then he showed us the bandages across his back,” said Jeff. The little boy had 14 stitches and some staples holding together a sizable wound.

“We began talking with his dad, who explained to us that his son was in the 3rd grade at Plaza Towers Elementary School and was trapped in the rubble of the building for over an hour alongside classmates who didn’t survive.”

They also met the little boy’s 6-year-old sister, who was running around alongside them. She remembered huddling with her friends in the school, and then opening her eyes and staring up at the playground equipment outside the school.

She had suffered head trauma, had been knocked unconscious, and had been thrown from the school, but she had survived.

“The father especially was emotional,” said Jeff. “We circled up with them and prayed with the whole family.”

‘It’s the Oklahoma spirit’

Kris Allen Molskness, “Sparky” to his friends, was already in “head’s up mode” after the previous day’s tornadoes when he decided at 2:30 p.m. on Monday to go get his kids from school in advance of the oncoming storm. With his children in his vehicle, they made their way out of the twister’s path and behind the storm.

His positioning allowed him to be one of the first people on the scene when the winds died down.

“Having a medical background and US Army training, I knew that people were going to need medical assistance and help right away. So I hurried up and pulled into the 7-Eleven parking lot, or what was left of the 7-Eleven,” said Kris. “I could hear people screaming and begging for help. There were four people at the front of the store.”

Kris and the others tried to help one victim who was severely injured. “We started working on her and cleared her airway once and got her breathing again, and moved on to the people next to her and started triaging them.”

They returned to clear her airway a second time, rolling her on her side. Unfortunately, she didn’t survive her injuries.

“It was an emergency, and I don’t wish anybody to ever go through that,” said Kris. “You know, I regret that my children had to see that. But it’s an experience that will make them stronger. It’s terrible that this had to happen to anybody, but you can only do what you can do.”

Kris continued: “The people of Moore, they’re no different than the people of any other community in Oklahoma. They’re strong spirited. We will build back bigger and better and stronger. It’s the Oklahoma spirit. We will survive.”

Saved by The Son

As Jeff and Terri continued their ministry through the disaster zone, praying with and ministering to some 40 people over the course of three or four hours, they happened upon a grandmother named Mona searching the rubble of her house with her granddaughters.

Mona was on the phone with her son, a police officer who was in his patrol car, as the storm approached. She thought about getting in her car to get away from it, but as she looked out her window she realized she was too late.

Instead she jumped into her inner closet and surrounded herself with pillows and clothes as her house disintegrated around her. Still on the phone with her son, their talk was emotional and spiritual in nature.

When the tornado hit, Mona’s cell phone went dead and everything went dark. Mona has no idea how long she was buried in the rubble, but she could hear people moving around outside. She tried screaming, but nobody could hear her. Ultimately she used her cell phone to beat against the timber around her, and that allowed her son to find her and dig her out.

“It’s pretty amazing analogy,” said Jeff. “Just as Jesus, God’s Son, has saved all of us who call on His name and brought us into the light, so Mona’s son pulled her from the rubble and saved her.”

Pray for Moore, Oklahoma

The recovery is beginning in Moore, but they have a long road ahead of them.

“The people here – from my experience – their countenance, the look on their face, was total shock,” said Jeff. “They’re standing in front of their house that is reduced to rubble, and in many cases they know that they just barely made it. You can see that expressed so obvious on their face.”

To help support Oklahoma and Texas storm victims with emotional and spiritual care, donate to the Rapid Response Team.

View this article on our Website

Her heart was racing as the tornado rumbling grew louder. Read how Casey Hedrick and her two children relied on the Lord's comfort to escape the rubble at a Moore, Okla., junior high school.

By Trevor Freeze

Hunkering down in a classroom, taking cover under a table, Casey Hedrick grabbed her two children just like any mother would.

The EF5 tornado was seconds from hitting her daughter’s middle school — Highland East Junior High in Moore, Okla., — and all Casey could do is hold on tight.

And pray.

“My heart’s racing,” she said. “I was hanging onto both of them.

“I was praying my kids would be safe.”

The noise, she said, grew louder and louder.

“A continuous thunder,” Casey described it. “You could hear the building pop and all the noises. The power goes off…”

And then? “Then it’s over.”

Casey knows she was one of the fortunate ones. Not only did her children survive the storm without a scrape, but she did as well.

Not five minutes before the tornado rumbled past the elementary school, she had just arrived at the school with her 10-year-old son Kolby, desperately trying to get to her 13-year-old daughter, Reilley.

“I was concerned she was going to be on the bus during the storm.”

Reilley wasn’t on her bus. Or in her classroom for that matter. But she was safe.

“The classroom I was in was an outside wall,” Reilley said. “So we had to go to the classroom next door.”

The portable classrooms at the schools were completely destroyed by the twister; the gym partially: “There’s a few walls standing, but they have to rebuild it.”

Outside the school, it looked like a war zone, debris scattered everywhere. Insulation here, a door knob there, a broken toilet here.

“There was mud everywhere,” Casey said. “We had to walk several miles to get out. Power lines were down everywhere. It was unreal.”

Just like Casey’s reuniting with her husband Jerry. After hours of trying to reach each other on cellphones, and walking through several miles of debris, Casey finally got a call to go through.

“When I finally got to him, I wrapped my arms around him,” she said. “Total relief. We could start to recover. Start to heal and move on.”

Some 48 hours after such a close call, Casey and Reilley both felt relieved and blessed that God had spared them.

“I was praying the whole time,” Reilley said. “Just praying for Him to keep us safe.”

Unfortunately, not every child in school on Monday escaped harm’s way. At Plaza Towers, three miles west of Highland East, seven children were killed in the devastating hit.

One Plaza Tower teacher told a TV network that she relied on her faith to help bring comfort to the children during tremendous chaos.

“I did the teacher thing that we’re probably not supposed to do, I prayed. And I prayed out loud,” Rhonda Crosswhite said. “God please take care of my kids.”

Helping minister to the emotional and spiritual needs of the Moore and Shawnee communities, chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team are on the scene, praying with those in need.

Their goal is to simply offer a listening ear in a time of incredible despair.

“I think it’s a good thing to have chaplain there,” Casey said, “to be able to pray and offer comfort and a shoulder to cry on if someone needs it.”

To help support Oklahoma and Texas storm victims with emotional and spiritual care, donate to the Rapid Response Team.

View this article on our Website

Crisis-trained BGEA chaplains are responding to help spread hope in the midst of Monday's heartbreaking tornado tragedy. Please continue to pray for those affected.

By Trevor Freeze

As residents start to comprehend the scope of disaster in Oklahoma, crisis-trained chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team are on the ground, prepared to minister to the emotional and spiritual needs of those whose world has been forever changed.

“Pictures don’t do justice to what’s going on in the hearts of the people there,” said Jack Munday, international director of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team.

“Our hearts are breaking for all those in the path of this horrific tornado. Our entire organization is praying for them.”

Two chaplain coordinators arrived Monday night around sunset — reporting the scene from the 200-mph tornado as "carnage — like everything has been through a blender.”  Six more chaplains arrived this morning with another 10 or so on standby, bags packed.

“Our purpose is really just a ministry of presence,” Munday said. “Sometimes it’s just giving them a bottle of water. Or maybe listen to them for hours. It’s a very difficult situation.”

“You can see the damage, as far as the eye can see,” said chaplain coordinator Carolin Perez, who along with husband Desi reside in Oklahoma. “There are huge buildings with half the building just gone. There was a shopping center where it looked like the tornado peeled up the concrete.”

The need is severe, but logistics will determine how many and how quickly BGEA will be able to deploy its network of chaplains who are — in a sense — always on standby in 48 states.

The goal is to not be an added burden on the Moore and Shawnee communities, but to simply be available to pray with those affected, give them a shoulder to cry on or just listen to their story.

“Our role is to be supportive to the families and the churches there,” Munday said. “The streets are blocked so we’re working on the perimeter.”

The Oklahoma deployment comes on the heels of major storm damage in Granbury, Texas, where BGEA chaplains are also ministering. The May 16 storm killed at least six people and destroyed more than 200 homes and more than 50 businesses.  

The death toll and damage reports are still uncertain in the Moore, Okla., area, which was hammered by a record 318-mph tornado some 14 years ago. Samaritan’s Purse, which is also deploying to this disaster, helped meet the physical needs for three months in 1999. (Click here for volunteer opportunities with Samaritan's Purse).

“We will have a significant number of chaplains there in the next 36 to 48 hours,” Munday said. “It will be a long, long recovery.”

Launched after 9/11, the Rapid Response Team has responded to more than 155 natural and man-made disasters since 2002.

While the Katrina hurricane (2005) and Haiti earthquake (2010) have been two of the longest deployments, recent disasters like the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting and the West, Texas, fertilizer plant explosion have increased the need for chaplains with emergency response experience.

Munday said that about a third of the chaplain network — more than 1,100 nationwide — have a background in emergency response and those will be the first responders to Moore, Okla., and the surrounding areas.

“Please pray continuously for all those who lost loved ones,” Munday said, “and for those who may still be trapped amidst the rubble.”

To help support Oklahoma and Texas storm victims with emotional and spiritual care, donate to the Rapid Response Team.

View this article on our Website