LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10, 2025 – The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) is deploying crisis-trained chaplains to the Los Angeles area where multiple wildfires have been raging – the largest being the Palisades Fire – amid Santa Ana winds. More than 35,000 acres have already burned with more than 180,000 people under evacuation orders across the region.
“People have lost everything. A lot of people are asking ‘Why?’, and that’s a hard question to answer,” said Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse. “We want to reassure them of God’s love – that He cares for them and that He hasn’t turned His back on them.”
Local crisis-trained chaplains began ministry in the area yesterday, Jan. 9, to those who have been displaced. Once the fires are contained and emergency management allows access to the hardest-hit areas, ministry will continue as recovery efforts begin alongside Samaritan’s Purse, the international Christian disaster relief organization also headed by Franklin Graham. Together the two ministries will address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of those who have been affected.
“The images coming out of California look like scenes out of a Hollywood movie – yet they show the real-life horror that the people of the Los Angeles area are experiencing today. There’s been so much devastation already and the fires continue to burn,” said Josh Holland, international director of the BG-RRT. “The Billy Graham Rapid Response team crisis-trained chaplains have already begun ministering at local shelters, providing prayer and encouragement to those who have lost everything.”
The BG-RRT is now ministering in three areas across the United States. In addition to Los Angeles, the ministry is meeting emotional and spiritual needs following Hurricane Helene in Valdosta, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida. The crisis-chaplaincy ministry was recently deployed in New Orleans, Louisiana, following the deadly New Year’s attack on Bourbon Street.
In addition to these domestic efforts, BG-RRT chaplains are also offering hope and providing emotional comfort and spiritual care to families who have been forced to flee their homes in war-torn Ukraine.
For more information on the ministry, including videos, photos, news articles and an interactive map of former and current deployments, visit the BG-RRT press kit or BillyGraham.org/RRT. Updates can also be found at Facebook.com/RRTChaplains.
Media Opportunities
- Interviews with:
- Josh Holland, international director of the BG-RRT
- Chaplain coordinators Los Angeles
- B-Roll and photos (please use with credit to Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)
- Interview request form
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 800 disaster sites across the globe, including shootings, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Lisa Moseley
lmoseley@bgea.org