Liz* struck up a conversation with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains while standing in front of the burned-out Ghost Ship, the warehouse in Oakland, California, where a deadly fire broke out during a party on Friday night, killing 36 people and gutting the artist space.
Liz shared that she had been standing outside, watching black smoke billow from the building in the aftermath of the fire. It was a tragic scene, further compounded for her when a man drove by and yelled from his window: “This serves those devil worshippers right.”
Liz couldn’t shake the meanness of the comment. The next day she happened to encounter Billy Graham Rapid Response chaplain coordinators Phil and Pam Rhodes, who have been offering a ministry of presence at the Ghost Ship’s makeshift memorials. Liz asked point-blank: What did God think of that statement?
“God’s heart would be grieved,” Phil Rhodes remembered sharing with Liz.
Phil said that the truth about God’s heart being grieved opened the door for Liz, this middle-aged woman who felt like an outcast, to share her story. As the conversation progressed, Liz recognized her need for Jesus Christ and made the decision to accept Him as her personal Lord and Savior.
“She brightened up,” Pam said, adding at that moment another woman, a professing believer, had approached the chaplains to thank them for being there in Oakland.
“She kind of joined in the conversation [with Liz],” Pam continued. “She shared with Liz, ‘You know, you can live on the solid rock or you can live on sand.’ She said, ‘The sand sinks and you go down, but that solid rock will always stand.’”
Pam was so grateful God had brought along a fellow believer to encourage Liz at that very moment.
“I thought, ‘Wow. Thank you Lord for bringing this sister along.’ We thanked her for also being there, and we all circled up together, and we prayed together. We talked about the fact that God doesn’t just save you, but He puts you in a family, and He makes you His child. That makes you more than a saved person. You are connected with a family now, and it’s the family of God. And God showed her that in a real way. Immediately.”
Six more chaplains are scheduled to join Phil and Pam Rhodes as they continue to offer a ministry of presence in Oakland, particularly at the makeshift memorials around the Ghost Ship that reportedly housed not only artist studios but artists themselves. Reports indicate that many, especially members of marginalized communities, seek refuge in artist collectives like the Ghost Ship. For them it is a chance to belong.
Beyond the walls of the Ghost Ship, the community is also a cauldron of diversity, and that’s reflected at the memorial site where various candles burn and the smell of burning sage is present.
“Oakland is one of the most diverse cities in America, and as Pam and I walked around the site, we see people with one common thread—they want to be liked,” Phil said. “Most look expressionless, sad or confused, but when you smile and you greet them, their faces light up.”
Mourners and others who have visited the memorial sites have asked the chaplains why they’re there. It’s a simple answer—share the love of Jesus—which Pam explained using 1 Peter 3:15.
Pam said, “As we walk through these kind of times, we always need to remember to do that with love and with gentleness and respect because that’s what the Scripture tells us to do.”
*Name changed to protect privacy.
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