Crisis-trained Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (RRT) chaplains are in Toronto, Canada, offering emotional and spiritual support to shocked and heartbroken residents after a shooting rampage in a busy tourist and restaurant district Sunday evening. The attack left three people dead (including the suspected shooter) and 13 injured in the Greektown neighborhood of Canada’s largest city.
“We are praying for the people of Toronto and our chaplains are preparing to provide Christ’s compassion, care and love to hurting residents, restaurant employees and emergency responders,” said Merle Doherty, manager of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada’s RRT chaplains.
It’s the second time the RRT has been sent to Toronto this year. In April, chaplains spent a week ministering in the city after a high-speed van attack killed 10 people and injured 15.
During 2018, chaplains also offered a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on and, when appropriate, prayers to people in Humboldt, SK, after a bus accident killed 16 people, and to flood victims in New Brunswick and British Columbia.
“This shooting has impacted the people living in the Greektown district, along with everyone who was having dinner in the area’s restaurants,” said Doherty. “Our chaplains are able to provide assistance after horrible, tragic events like this because of the training they’ve received.”
The chaplains will stay in Toronto for as long as needed.
