In the wake of deadly terrorist attacks on March 22 in Brussels, Belgium, crisis-trained chaplains with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team have deployed to the area to offer emotional and spiritual care. Here is one chaplain’s story.
I saw an older woman trying to light a large candle to place amidst the hundreds if not thousands of others.
I approached her and introduced myself. Her name was Marie. She wanted to show me a picture of her daughter’s friend, Johannie, a young woman born in 1985 who was on the subway during the terrorist bombing and is still missing.
Marie has a Catholic background, but liked Buddhist meditation and turned away from the church. I asked her if she had peace with the meditation and she shrugged her shoulders.
I asked Marie if she ever prayed to God and asked if she would like to pray for Johannie’s parents and Johannie’s daughter, Catherine, and she said yes. In a few minutes the strain left Marie’s face and she thanked me for praying. I then gave her the “Steps to Peace with God” tract and Marie put it in her pocket. “Thank you,” she said, “I feel better.”