On The Streets--"Dealing With Sorrows"

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in 1982. In the first 15 years, 54,000 items were left at the Wall. It still takes almost an hour every night, and much longer on Memorial Day, to collect the mementos—a teddy bear, a photo of a soldier’s grandchild, a letter from a daughter who never knew her dad.

The Wall reminds us that sorrow comes to us all. We often carry our grief around for years—struggling with our emotions. While the Wall provides a place to leave mementos—is there a place where we can truly lay down our sorrows?

The holidays bring out the best and the worst in some people. As Emergency Responders, we know about the worst all too well.

All of us will have to deal with folks during the holiday season that are at their worst. People have pain and grief in their lives that has gone unresolved and for some reason—the holidays seem to magnify the pain.

Our “customers” often try to handle the pain in ways that are neither healthy nor productive. Those who choose to use alcohol and drugs to ease their pain will use too much. The 911 center will get calls about fights, car wrecks and other bad decisions caused by too much “medication”. Some of the sights that we see over the holidays are too heart breaking to talk about.

As we take calls from hysterical people, respond to domestic situations, arrest DWI drivers and transport depressed patients to the hospital—we do our best to distance ourselves from the situation. We can’t get too personally involved—but do we understand that many of the people that we come in contact with are dealing with their sorrows and grief in ways that are “not good?”

While most of us that respond to these emergencies know that this happens to the public—do we keep a check on ourselves? Do we deal with our life struggles in a way that is productive and healthy? We know that the difficulties of life come to us all, but is there a place where we can leave our sorrows and find healing for the wounds of life?

The Old Testament book of Isaiah tells the prophecy of the coming Christ. If you go to a Christmas program you will probably hear from Isaiah 7:14—“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” You may also hear Isaiah 9:6—“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Immanuel means “God with us”. Another name that Isaiah tells us that Jesus will be known by is “Prince of Peace”. We always talk about peace at Christmas…but where is the peace that I need when I am dealing with the great struggles that I face?

Keep reading in Isaiah and you will come to Chapter 53. Here the prophet speaks of the Messiah as the One who came to be with us and “has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…By His stripes we are healed” (vv4-5). When we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin, we also come to know Him as the One who can lift the weight of sadness from our shoulders.

We can bring our grief to the Man of sorrows. There is help and healing and closure at the cross for the deepest pain of our hearts.

Car vs big tree on US 70

Vehicle Fire on NC 147

LETTER OF INTRODUCTION

For the past 9 ½ years I have served as an Associate Pastor at Bethesda Baptist Church in Durham and over the past 6 years I have served as Chaplain for Bethesda Fire and Rescue, also in Durham. Two years ago, I began serving as Chaplain for Durham County EMS.

During this time I sensed the Lord leading me to devote more time to chaplaincy and because of this calling I enrolled in the Biblical Counseling program at Master’s Divinity School. In July of 2007 I completed a Master of Ministry degree.

In January of 2008 I resigned from Bethesda Baptist Church in order to begin work on a new venture called Emergency Chaplains. My wife (Carter) and I believe that the Lord called us to minister to the public safety community here in Durham and we have dedicated our coming days to answer that calling.

Carter graduated with a BA in Psychology/Christian Counseling in May at Louisiana Baptist University and she will be available to work with the ministry, especially in the area of counseling females.

We are currently in the process of forming a non-profit corporation that will have 3 principle goals. Those goals are to provide pastoral care for our local public safety responders and their families, to provide chaplaincy care for the general public during a time of crisis and to provide resources and training that will facilitate this comprehensive approach to chaplaincy care in all 100 counties in North Carolina.

I would love to tell you more about our vision and how I believe that we would be an asset to your organization. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,
Ralph Thompson

Emergency Chaplains

Purpose Statement

The purpose of Emergency Chaplains is to:

1. Provide pastoral care and counseling for employees and families of emergency service agencies


2. Provide pastoral care and short-term assistance for the general public whose lives have changed suddenly and forever due to a violent act or unexpected tragedy


3. Provide training and assistance to other counties and agencies in NC.

The primary purpose of Emergency Chaplains is to provide pastoral care and counseling for employees and families of emergency service agencies in Durham County, NC. This will include but is not limited to:

· Stress debriefing

· Job counseling, marriage and family counseling, addiction counseling

· Pre-Marital counseling, Perform weddings

· Officiate at funerals, bereavement counseling

· Offer spiritual guidance to those who desire it and to serve as a communication link between people in crisis and their own spiritual advisors.

· Get to know personnel, their families and their needs, providing an informal but professional support.

· Hospital visitation

In addition, Emergency Chaplains will also intervene in times of crisis for the general public of Durham County by providing on-the-scene pastoral care and crisis intervention in conjunction with local EMS, fire, law enforcement, and other emergency response agencies. This will be accomplished by doing the following:

· Respond as needed to the crisis scene.

· Minister to crisis victims and their families.

· Provide a communication channel between responders and crisis victims giving a positive public image.

· Follow the scene as it transitions to hospital or other locations, providing continuity for patients, victims and family members.

· Interface with other clergy, extended family, Red Cross, and other community support mechanisms to meet needs of victims.

· Provide stability for victims and personnel during crisis situations. Give direction for spiritual and emotional needs, both for victims and personnel.

The work of Emergency Chaplains will be accomplished by recruiting and training chaplains to serve on a volunteer basis. They will work in conjunction with agency chaplains that are already in place in order to provide support and resources and to give 24/7 coverage for crisis calls.

Emergency Chaplains will provide training and assistance for other counties in NC that desire to establish a similar chaplaincy program.

Resume

Rev. Ralph Edward Thompson

5116 Huxey Glenn Court

Durham, NC 27703-9293

Home Phone: 919.596.6345

OBJECTIVE
· To be obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ and to bring honor and glory to His name.

EXPERIENCE
· February 2008-present: Executive Director, Emergency Chaplains, PO Box 14762, Durham, NC 27709. Founded this ministry in order to provide chaplaincy to all public safety responder agencies in Durham County.
· June 1998-January 2008: Associate Pastor, Bethesda Baptist Church, 1914 S. Miami Blvd., Durham, NC 27703. Served as Discipleship Pastor initially and later as Pastor of Administration and Outreach. Ordained by church in 2001.
· 1995-1998: Agent, Farm Bureau Insurance, PO Box 15310, Durham, NC 27704

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
· April 2008-present: Chaplain, NC State Highway Patrol, District C-7, Durham/Granville, NC and Troop C Chaplaincy Coordinator, Raleigh, NC
· November 2006-present: Adjunct Clergy, Durham Regional Hospital, Durham, NC
· December 2005-present: Chaplain, Durham County EMS, 402 Stadium Drive, Durham, NC
· January 2002-present: Chaplain, Bethesda Fire and Rescue, 1724 S. Miami Blvd, Durham, NC

EDUCATION
· M.Min., Biblical Counseling, Master’s International School of Divinity, Evansville, IN
July 2007.
· B.A., Biblical Studies, Louisiana Baptist University, Shreveport, LA, May 2002.
· A.Div., Southeastern College at Wake Forest, Wake Forest, NC, May 2001.
· A.A.S., Business Management, Danville Community College, Danville, VA, June 1983

OTHER TRAINING
· Specialized Training Certificate in Spiritual Care in Crisis Intervention awarded by International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF)
· Traumas of Law Enforcement training by Concerns of Police Survivors(C.O.P.S.)
· Certified EMT-B by NC Office of Emergency Medical Services

AFFILIATIONS
· Member, American Association of Christian Counselors
· Member, International Association of Biblical Counselors
· Member, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation
· Member, Federation of Fire Chaplains
· Member, Bethesda Ruritan Club