It was 10:30 p.m., and the packed concert in Manchester Arena had just ended. Enthusiastic fans—mostly young girls, many accompanied by a parent—had started for the exits when an Islamic terrorist triggered a bomb blast that turned the arena into a scene of horror and chaos. Twenty-two children and parents were killed, and more than 115 were injured, some critically. The terrorist died in the blast.
Twelve days later and 200 miles southeast in London, three Islamic terrorists attacked people on London Bridge and in the adjacent restaurant district with a vehicle and knives, killing seven and injuring dozens more, many severely.
Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains based in the U.K. were on scene within hours both times, just as they were two months earlier when an Islamic terrorist killed and injured people in the heart of London near the British Parliament building.
After the Manchester bombing massacre, chaplains arrived from the U.S. as well.
Volunteers from a local church partnered with our teams to offer emotional and spiritual care to shocked and devastated people who came to grieve at a public memorial site in St. Ann’s Square. For days, one person after another asked the same question: “Why? Why did this happen?”
That was the question Emma wrestled with while sitting near the memorial.
She asked a nearby chaplain, and the two began to work through the answers. Instead of focusing on the “why” question, the chaplain encouraged the young woman to examine how she should respond to the tragedy—and Who really can help in times of crisis. Emma grew up in church but never had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. She assumed her good works would get her to heaven.
Using Scripture and BGEA’s “Steps to Peace With God” booklet, the chaplain showed Emma that our good works are ultimately not the solution. With so many sudden deaths heavy on her mind, Emma wanted a truth to which she could anchor her life and her future. As the Holy Spirit worked, Emma began to grasp what grace is and what Jesus did for her on the cross. She decided right then and there, in repentance and faith, to ask Jesus for a personal relationship.
Name has been changed to protect privacy.
Pray for Emma and the scores of others like her in Manchester with whom our chaplains talked, wept and prayed.
