More than a dozen chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) have been ministering in Plumas County, California, since late August due to the Dixie Fire.
The Dixie Fire is the largest single wildfire in the state’s history, nearly contained after burning more than 960,000 acres across five counties and destroying more than 1,300 structures.
“Since the country is going through so much, it is hard to imagine losing your sanctuary, your place of comfort, shelter and memories,” one crisis-trained chaplain said. “[We] aren’t seeing masses receive Christ, but believe they are hearing the Good News amidst the background of tragedy and rethinking everything they thought about God.” >> Have you considered a relationship with God? Start here.
A few chaplains drove through deep forests in Plumas County, praying for the Holy Spirit to connect them with people who need Jesus. Along winding mountain roads, they met a woman, who was crying, and her husband. As a driver for the fire department, she was fighting the Dixie Fire when their own home burned. Her disabled husband barely escaped the fire with their pets.
One of the chaplains asked the couple if they would like to find the way to true, lasting peace. They said yes, and the chaplain shared a “Steps to Peace with God” booklet and Scriptures explaining the Gospel. Both husband and wife asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior.
Part of the BG-RRT's ministry focuses on law enforcement officers, who have to work through their own emotional and spiritual needs after tending to community crises. >> Get details about the next Law Enforcement Appreciation Retreat, held at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in late October.
Few signs of life exist among the winding mountain roads of Plumas County, which was inundated by the Dixie Fire.
The chaplains’ ministry can be prayer, offering a listening ear or a word of encouragement to those whose world has been turned upside down.
A chaplain came to visit a woman who was sitting in her car, crying in front of the BG-RRT’s Mobile Ministry Center (pictured here). The local shared she was Native American, and that three generations of precious family items in the town's museum were destroyed by the fire. After the chaplain shared Scriptures with her, the woman said, “I don’t know what my people would have done without God. A missionary brought Jesus to our village many years back. As a people we had the spirit, but then we had the Holy Spirit.” She recalled seeing Franklin Graham in Chico, California, during his Decision America Tour in 2018, and proceeded to pray with the chaplain. She was smiling as she drove away, having lifted her troubles to the Lord. >> Franklin Graham is on the road for the God Loves You Tour until October 2. Find the stop nearest you.
The Mobile Ministry Center has been a haven for many who have come to talk with chaplains in Plumas County. One woman took a seat inside to get out of the heat, and shared about the trauma and troubles evacuating from the fire. Though she had just returned home, the heavy smoke soon led to another evacuation order. The chaplains asked the woman about her faith and shared the hope of Jesus. She wanted to surrender her life to Christ. The chaplains gave her a Billy Graham Training Center Bible, showing her how to answer her questions by navigating through the topical section.
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified." —Isaiah 61:1-3
Chaplains have prayed with nearly 900 people in the Plumas County area—and will be in the region until mid-October. One local facing a divorce told chaplains, “I appreciate the prayer because I really need change in my life.” Will you join them in prayer, asking God to comfort those who have lost everything?
