“Sharing Hope in Crisis is an excellent course which I would highly recommend to others,” said Angela.
She had just been to a seminar which the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team delivered last weekend at All Nations Church in Cardiff. The course uses videos, personal testimonies and breakout sessions to train people in bringing the comfort of Christ to situations of personal or communal tragedy.
The seminar provides the confidence and tools people need to respond to friends and neighbours who are experiencing crisis in their day-to-day lives: perhaps those who have suffered a bereavement or redundancy, or had a worrying report from their doctor.
“A wonderful and exciting day,” commented Helen, who also attended the event.
Angela and Helen were among 46 participants from 18 churches who came to the seminar. People had driven from Bristol and even as far away as London and Yorkshire to be there.
Many were already serving their communities as street pastors, evangelists and medical staff, and had come to develop their skills.
A team of five – all with experience of deploying to disasters – delivered the course. They included Ian Macleod (Head of UK Disaster Relief), Nigel Fawcett-Jones (UK Rapid Response Team Coordinator), Bruce and Kathy Govett (Coordinator chaplains) and chaplain Eldred Willey.
All Nations Church, which hosted the event, has a strong missionary focus. Members it has sent out include Nathalie Macdermott, who has been a key figure in the Ebloa response in Liberia. She is the author of ‘Dare to Trust’ and features on the Billy Graham My Hope film Second Chance – http://myhopewithbillygraham.org.uk/programs/second-chance.
Alex, who hosted the event for All Nations, has also deployed several times with Samaritans Purse to disaster zones. Alex commented:
“Sharing Hope in Crisis is an absolutely excellent training course to equip church members to share God’s love and hope with anyone facing a crisis – whether that be one-to-one with a friend, or following a wider incident.
“The training is Biblically-based and delivered by people with first-hand experience of dealing with crisis situations. I would wholeheartedly recommend the course to anyone wanting to learn how to respond with Godly wisdom, love and sensitivity in a crisis situation.”
Future Sharing Hope in Crisis seminars are taking place in Cambridge, Fetcham, Clitheroe, Peterhead, Thrigby, Bishop’s Stortford, Kilmington and Chatham. You can register for a course at https://billygraham.org.uk/rapid-response-team/training.
Please do share this story with your pastor, who might consider hosting a seminar at your church. If your church would like to partner with this ministry, you can contact Ian Macleod on ian.macleod@samaritans-purse.org.uk