With record-breaking floods sweeping through much of Nebraska, the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (RRT) has deployed to the eastern city of Fremont to offer emotional and spiritual care.
“Pretty much everywhere you look there’s a lot of water,” said crisis-trained chaplain Al New, who flew into Omaha from Charlotte, North Carolina.
He noticed murky water along roads and farmland as rain poured while he drove nearly an hour east to Fremont. In addition to heavy rain, the flooding was caused by melting snow from last week’s bomb cyclone. Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas have also been affected by floodwaters.
At least three people have died in these fast-moving waters, including a farmer who was trying to rescue a stranger.
With the water now receding, New has recognized, “People are really getting out of crisis mode and are starting to push forward in the cleanup mode.”
Samaritan’s Purse is in the area to help with the physical cleanup, preparing to mud out some of the 500-plus damaged homes. Starting today, RRT chaplains will go alongside them to check on homeowners, offering a listening ear and prayer.
Multiple chaplains are also deployed in various areas around the world, including Lee County, Alabama, due to deadly tornadoes, and Christchurch, New Zealand, after a horrific shooting earlier this month.
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Other RRT chaplains are also available at the Mobile Ministry Center (MMC) stationed at Village Hall in Inglewood, a small community inside Fremont. The MMC is serving as a base of operations during the chaplains’ deployment.
While New and another chaplain set up the vehicle, a local resident hopped out of her car saying she loved Billy Graham. With no shoes on and muddy hands, she took pictures of the MMC with her phone. “I don’t know all that she’s going through,” New said. “But seeing the Mobile Ministry Center lifted her spirits.”
New is praying that the water recedes sooner than later.
“Let’s stand with these families in prayer,” Franklin Graham shared on Facebook. “Imagine your home, your farm, everything you own being underwater.”
With many people still in survival mode, trying to find food and clothes while coping with their emotions, New wants to “give them hope that things can get better.”
Do you have hope in the midst of life’s storms? Trust in God today.
