Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) chaplains are responding in Southern California—where smoke from ongoing wildfires is in view, and fine ash particles fill the air.
A safe distance from the flames, crisis-trained chaplains are offering emotional and spiritual support in shelters set up for those who have fled their homes.
One of those chaplains, John LaBelle, told the story of meeting two people from Arcadia that had to flee their home. Their conversation went like this….
“I see you are handing out water,” he said to the 19-year-old Californians after chatting for a while. “Have you ever heard about the ‘Living Water’?”
The young women had never heard that term, so LaBelle shared with them what Jesus said in John 7:38: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
One of the young women said she’d never been to church before. The other said she had just started attending a church with her boyfriend the week before. They both said they’d like to know how to receive the “Living Water” LaBelle spoke of.
As the girls looked on intently, LaBelle took them through “Steps to Peace With God”—a small booklet about how to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Having heard the Gospel for the first time, the girls said that they wanted to invite Jesus Christ into their lives.
The three prayed, and the women began their new lives in Jesus together.