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Contact: Erik Ogren, 704-401-2117,
eogren@bgea.org
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 8, 2018 /Christian
Newswire/ -- Billy
Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains are on-site in Thousand Oaks, Calif.,
where a gunman opened fire at the Borderline Bar & Grill last night.
News reports indicate that 12 people, including a law enforcement officer
who responded, were murdered in the attack. The gunman has also died.
"Words can't begin to describe the pain of such a sudden and brutal attack,"
said Jack Munday, international director of the Billy Graham Rapid Response
Team. "We are grieving alongside the families of those killed and wounded in
this horrific tragedy. We will be there to offer emotional and spiritual care,
and the hope and compassion of Jesus Christ, in the days ahead."
The deployment to Thousand Oaks is the fourth shooting-related response in
recent days for the ministry. Crisis-trained Billy Graham Rapid Response Team
chaplains also comforted mourners following attacks at the Tree of Life
Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa., a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Fla., and at Butler
High School in Matthews, N.C. (which is just minutes from the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.), over the past two
weeks.
Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association,
appealed for prayer on his
Facebook page, saying, "Would you lift up in prayer all those wounded and
the families whose loved ones were killed in a shooting in Thousand Oaks,
California, last night?"
In addition to the recent shooting-related deployments, the Billy Graham Rapid
Response Team currently has chaplains in multiple areas across the southeastern
United States following the incredible devastation of Hurricanes Florence and
Michael, including New Bern, Jacksonville and Wilmington, N.C.; Albany, Ga.; and
Wewahitchka, Fla.
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 following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
It has since grown into an international network of chaplains in the U.S., U.K.,
Canada and Australia who are specifically trained to deal with crisis
situations. They have deployed to more than 300 disaster sites, including
shootings, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes.