Crisis-trained Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains are being deployed to Van, Texas, after a tornado touched down just after sunset on Mother’s Day.
The storm killed at least two people and injured many others. A large part of the small town, located about 70 miles southeast of Dallas, was damaged.
“Right now people are likely in shock and denial that it’s even happened,” said Al New, manager of deployments and operations for the Rapid Response Team. “They’re shocked by the deaths and the people still missing, and they’re grieving the losses—material things as well as lives that have been lost.”
The Rapid Response Team’s nationwide network of chaplains includes a number of volunteers from Texas. The first chaplain on the ground in Van will be Paul Dowdy, who lives about two hours away in Van Alstyne. On Monday, an alert went out to the rest of the chaplain network, asking for volunteers to join Dowdy in offering emotional and spiritual care to the people of Van in the aftermath of the storm.
The chaplains are deploying with sister ministry Samaritan’s Purse, which will offer free disaster relief services to the community.
“Our purpose is to have a ministry of presence,” New said, “and to come alongside the residents of Van, Texas.”
This will be the seventh Billy Graham Rapid Response Team deployment of 2015 and the third tornado response of the year. Chaplains were on the ground following tornadoes in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Fairdale, Illinois, earlier this spring.
They have also had a presence in the midst of civil unrest throughout the country. The team just wrapped up a 10-day deployment to Baltimore, following riots that happened there in late April.
Now, their attention turns to an active storm season for many parts of the U.S.
“We are expecting a busy season, and we are prepared,” New said. “We’re always prepared going into hurricane season, which is what we’re moving into now, and hopefully out of tornado season.
“We’re ready to meet the needs wherever the Lord sends us. We’re always prepared to go.”
