BGEA Rapid Response Team Deploys to Texas and Oklahoma

By   •   May 16, 2013

oklahoma tornado

Crisis-trained chaplains with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team have deployed to communities in Texas and Oklahoma, following a series of tornadoes that damaged hundreds of homes and resulted in numerous injuries and deaths.

Chaplains will be offering emotional and spiritual support in and around Granbury, Texas and the communities of Chandler and Moore in Oklahoma.

“It’s always so difficult for survivors to comprehend the tragedy of a tornado, because everything happens so fast,” said Jack Munday, international director of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team. “You wake up in the morning with all of your plans before you, and by the time you go to bed at night your entire world has changed and everything you once knew has been destroyed. Please pray for those who lost everything in this series of tornadoes, and especially for the loved ones of the victims.”

The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team is deploying in coordination with Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, who is also president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Together the two ministries will seek to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of those impacted by the storms.

These are the third and fourth tornado responses undertaken by the team in 2013, following efforts in Petal, Miss., and Shuqualak, Miss. The team also deployed to West, Texas, following the fertilizer plant explosion in April.

About the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team: The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team is a nationwide network of Christian chaplains across 48 states that are specifically trained to deal with crisis situations. Since the ministry was launched in 2002, it has responded to more than 155 natural and man-made disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires and shootings. For more information on the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, visit www.BillyGraham.org/rrt. For videos, photos and news articles from recent Billy Graham Rapid Response Team deployments, visit www.BillyGraham.org/CrisisResponse. Ministry updates and photo galleries are posted at www.Facebook.com/BGRapidResponseTeam.