After More Than Two Months of Ministry, Billy Graham Rapid Response Team Exits from Ike
Thousands Comforted During Major Deployment In Response to Destructive Hurricane
November 25, 2008 -- The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team of crisis-trained chaplains officially concluded its months-long deployment to Texas on Saturday, November 22.
Since September 13, Chaplains have been ministering to victims in the areas devastated by Hurricane Ike, including Port Arthur, Beaumont, Friendswood, Santa Fe and Galveston, Texas.
Over the past two months, more than 170 chaplains have prayed with and comforted approximately 7,150 people who are working to recover and come to grips with the destruction that Hurricane Ike brought to their area.
Among those who have been comforted were a former rodeo champion whose trophies were washed away, a victim of a drive-by shooting (which occurred directly in front of the chaplains), and a woman whose son had committed suicide five days prior to her visit with chaplains, along with countless others whose houses were destroyed beyond repair.
“As is often the case when we deploy, many people were already hurting and dealing with personal tragedies long before the storm came through,” says Jack Munday, director of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team.
“In some cases Hurricane Ike tore the wounds open, and in other cases it just made matters that much worse, but in all situations people were desperately in need of hope as they tried to regain a sense of normalcy.”
Expressing his appreciation for the chaplains, Pastor John Newton of First Baptist Church of Alta Loma said, “The Rapid Response Team of chaplains has absolutely been a ‘God-send’ to me, our church, our city and surrounding communities. They have been an encouragement and a challenge to me as they take to time to truly listen.”
2008 has been the busiest year ever for the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, more than doubling the number of deployments from 2007, which previously had the highest total. Overall, the chaplains have ministered in 30 locations thus far in 2008, in the United States, Myanmar, Kenya and Grand Turk Island.
The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team is a nationwide database of more than 2,800 chaplains and ministry volunteers who are specifically trained to deal with crisis situations. Since the ministry was launched in 2002, it has deployed following dozens of natural and man-made disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires and shootings.
About BGEA
From its headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association runs a wide range of domestic and international ministries, including: large-scale festivals led by evangelists Franklin Graham and his son Will Graham; Dare to Be a Daniel, a youth evangelism training project; My Hope World Evangelism Through Television; the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team of crisis-trained chaplains; and many others through print, television, telephone, radio and the Internet. For more information, please visit www.billygraham.org.
