GLOBAL PRAYER NETWORK: Billy Graham Rapid Response Team Sends Internationally-Coordinated Team of Chaplains to Brussels Following Terrorist Attacks

Rabu, 23 Maret 2016

Billy Graham Rapid Response Team Sends Internationally-Coordinated Team of Chaplains to Brussels Following Terrorist Attacks

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST News Service

CHARLOTTE, NC (ANS -- March 23, 2016) – In the wake of the tragic terrorist attacks that shocked Brussels Tuesday morning, a team of chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team is headed to Belgium’s capital city to offer emotional and spiritual care.

At the direction of Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), the Billy Graham Rapid Response Teams international consortium is sending a multi-national group of crisis-trained chaplains to Belgium following the devastating terror attacks in Brussels.

According to a BGEA news release, current media reports indicate that 31 people have died, with approximately 270 wounded in the attacks on the Brussels metro and airport.

Similar to last year's tragedy in Paris, chaplains from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom will all be involved in the coordinated response.

Billy Graham Rapid Response team praying

“Today we all grieve with our brothers and sisters in Belgium,” said Jack Munday, the international director of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team. “Please join us in praying for the wounded, the survivors, and the loved ones of those who lost their lives, as they travel through their journey of grief and mourning.”

Chaplains will soon begin arriving in Brussels to pray with and comfort the mourners, while also supporting local churches to offer hope in the midst of the crisis. The duration of the deployment is not yet known.

In addition to Brussels, Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains are currently ministering in multiple cities in Louisiana and Texas following recent flooding.

For more information on the ministry, including videos, photos, news articles and an interactive map of former and current deployments, visit www.billygraham.org/rrt. Updates can also be found at www.facebook.com/RRTChaplains.

About the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team:

The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team was developed by Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It has since grown into a nationwide network of chaplains in 48 states who are specifically trained to deal with crisis situations. They have deployed to more than 215 disaster sites, including shootings, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes.

Media Contact: Lisa Moseley, (704) 401-2116, lmoseley@bgea.org

Photo captions: 1) Scene at the airport after the deadly terrorist attack. 2) Members of the Billy Graham Rapid Response team praying. 3) Dan Wooding with Billy Graham in Essen, Germany.

About the writer: Dan Wooding, 75, is an award-winning winning author, broadcaster and journalist who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, and is now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for more than 52 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. Dan is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS), and is also the author of some 45 books. He began his journalistic career back in 1968 when he joined the staff of The Christian in London, England, which was owned by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He has also worked as part of Mr. Graham’s media team in Moscow, Russia, Essen, Germany; and in San Juan, Puerto Rico.