Brandon was part of a work crew cleaning out a flood-damaged home in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The crew was outside when Steve, a Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) chaplain spending time with nearby flooded residents, decided to approach Brandon.
The resulting encounter—a friendly chat, followed by a short prayer—changed the course of Brandon’s life forever. And the support of donors like you helped make that happen.
“I just felt I needed to talk with Steve,” said Brandon, 23.
Crisis-trained chaplains traveled to Fort McMurray in May after ice jams caused two nearby rivers to flood, damaging hundreds of homes. The chaplains provided spiritual care and comfort for residents and for Samaritan’s Purse staff and local volunteers like Brandon involved in cleaning out their basements.
Turned to drug use
Brandon explained why he sought the chaplain for help: “There’s stuff going on in my life and I sensed God telling me to go talk to Steve.”
Brandon committed his life to Christ as a young teenager and attended a Fort McMurray church, but his past was littered with challenges. He grew up without a father and was deeply traumatized by a friend’s suicide—so traumatized that for a time, he turned to drug use.
“I asked God where He was (when the suicide happened),” Brandon recalled quietly, adding that as a result of his friend’s death, “I cursed at God. I lost all hope.”
“I felt an inner peace”
As they sat in the back of a Samaritan’s Purse cube van and discussed these heavy issues, the Holy Spirit led Steve to ask if he could guide Brandon through BGEA of Canada’s Steps to Peace with God evangelistic booklet. Brandon agreed and when it came time to decide if he wanted to pray to recommit his life to the Lord, Brandon said yes. Praise God!
“As soon as I said ‘amen’, I felt an inner peace,” he noted. “I want to go back to the Christian I was, and I’m not going to (be able to) do it on my own.”
“God’s going to help you,” Steve told Brandon. “Ask Him to make you a different man—and whatever you’re holding on to, let it go because He’s going to walk with you.”
Every time BG-RRT chaplains have spiritual conversations with hurting people like Brandon, generous prayer and financial partners like you are right there with them. Please link arms with us so more Canadians can know and follow Christ. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, ESV).
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