With temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, please keep locals and chaplains alike in prayer as ministry happens in extreme heat.
Sometimes in the middle of a tragedy, it helps just to know someone is there.
Mourners gather at a makeshift memorial outside Walmart.
After such unthinkable tragedies, many people wonder where God is through it all. It may seem impossible, but there is hope for all that’s happening in the world today. Join us in praying fervently for the families of those killed and injured, and let these passages of Scripture sustain you in the days ahead.
Chaplains are onsite to listen if people want to talk and to offer encouragement when needed.
A circle of prayer around a line of crosses, each representing a life lost during the El Paso shooting.
People comfort each other during a vigil Sunday in El Paso. (AP Photo/John Locher)
The memorial, assembled outside the shopping center where the shooting took place in El Paso, Texas, offers a place for family, friends and neighbors to grieve the loss of loved ones.
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” —Matthew 18:20
“In this time of shock, anger, brokenness and incredible loss, we can’t imagine the pain and suffering people are feeling from this senseless act of evil,” said Jack Munday, international director of the RRT. “Yet, we know God hasn’t forgotten them and seeks to heal the brokenhearted and bring comfort to those who grieve.”
A man leans on one of the crosses between two chaplains who were there to comfort him and others in their grief.
A moment of one-on-one prayer.
Chaplains with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (RRT) are deployed in both cities to offer hope and support to community members suffering from unimaginable grief.
Crisis-trained RRT chaplains are meeting with authorities at El Paso’s emergency operations center to see how they can assist local churches and organizations.
“The Word of God tells us to ‘mourn with those who mourn,’ and that is what our nation is doing,” Franklin Graham said on his Facebook page Monday morning. “As we mourn with these families and communities, let’s continue to sincerely lift them up in prayer before the Lord. He is the only one who can comfort and wholly heal their broken hearts.”
