The sun is finally shining again in South Carolina, but the trauma isn’t over as dams breach and swollen rivers crest, pouring more water across already-saturated communities.
The deadly floods that washed away homes, businesses and cars have left hundreds of people homeless. The damage, particularly in the capital city of Columbia, is astronomical.
“It’s safe to say this is the worst flooding in South Carolina history,” said Jack Munday, international director of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team. The nationwide network of crisis-trained chaplains is a ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), based in Charlotte, North Carolina, just 90 miles north of Columbia.
“As neighbors to South Carolina, we’re desiring to serve and support those who have been affected,” Munday said. “Hearing of homeowners who stepped out of their bed at 5 in the morning to be ankle deep in water, I can’t imagine the shock and the trauma that was for them.”
At the request of BGEA President Franklin Graham, the Rapid Response Team is sending chaplains to Columbia to offer emotional and spiritual care to flood victims as sister ministry Samaritan’s Purse provides disaster relief.
The first chaplains, who live in South Carolina, will arrive in Columbia on Wednesday. A total of 15 chaplains will be ministering in the area by Saturday.
Munday says the chaplains will be there to come alongside residents, encourage them, pray for them and help them identify the next steps as the water recedes.
“And recognizing most people already have a personal crisis in their life,” Munday added, “to care for them and to reassure them that God hasn’t forgotten them.”
The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team also has chaplains serving in Roseburg, Oregon, following the deadly campus shooting. And chaplains continue to minister in Central California following the deadly Butte and Valley wildfires.
