Chaplains Minister to Chicago Area in Wake of Flooding

By   •   July 21, 2017

A man picks up sandbags to reinforce the barrier he built to keep flood water from reaching his house in Gurnee, Illinois. Illinois officials said recently that several thousand buildings have been affected by "unprecedented" flooding north of Chicago, and the damage is expected to worsen as water flows down rivers into the state from Wisconsin. (Photo credit: Associated Press)

Crisis-trained chaplains with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team are ministering in Northeastern Illinois as residents there deal with the aftermath of flooding.

Recent heavy rainfall in the Chicago area prompted flooding after the Fox River climbed to new heights within the last several days and the Des Plaines River also swelled. The threat of more rain—and possibly flash flooding, according to the National Weather Service—could further complicate the ongoing flood relief efforts.

Rapid Response Team chaplains are serving alongside Samaritan’s Purse during this deployment. The two ministries already are working side by side to bring the love and compassion of Jesus Christ a couple hours north in Southeastern Wisconsin.

This is the third flood deployment for the Rapid Response Team in 2017 and the seventh time this year the chaplains have responded in the wake of a natural disaster. Earlier this year, the team deployed after tornadoes sliced through Albany, Georgia; Durant, Mississippi, Forrest City, Mississippi; and New Orleans, Louisiana. Chaplains also ministered in Ripley County, Missouri, after devastating flooding in May.

The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team is an international ministry of crisis-trained chaplains ready to deploy at a moment’s notice to natural and man-made disasters. Since its inception in the wake of 9/11, hundreds of chaplains have had the honor of praying with hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, all in the name of Jesus.

Please keep all affected by the flooding in your prayers, particularly the first responders and volunteers who are responding.

Help send crisis-trained chaplains to share God’s love when tragedy strikes.