Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days. Eze 3:15
Early one morning my phone rang the person calling said, "This is the Human Resources Department from the plant. There has been a bad wreck and some of the victims are headed for the hospital." I immediately called other chaplains to converge on the two different hospitals and the plant where coworkers are anxious and grieving. The wheel came off causing the van to turn over, one dead and several injured. While ministering to the grieving families, coworkers and representing concerned company officials you will find yourself setting where they sit, caring and crying, looking through their eyes sharing their pain.
On another occasion I found myself standing beside the special projects engineer the day his wife died. I spent about 6 hours that day with him just being there for him. The next day I attended the wake, several hours away, and then I preached his wife's funeral. Because I ministered to him, he came to visit our church one time. I buried his wife in December. Jim received the Holy Ghost in January. Later he told me, "There is nothing that you could have said to ever get me to come to your church, but when you were kind to my wife and I when she was dying I said you all had something I did not have and I had to come see what it was." Jim never got away in fact he has just met the Arkansas district Board and received his ministers' license. He preaches at our local jail and oversees our jail ministry. Jim has baptized 15 inmates since the first of the year. All this because he was met in his time of need by a chaplain in his workplace.
Directing our Police and Fire Chaplains is Rick George. He told this story in one of our teaching sessions with Urshan Graduate School of Theology. I was called to the scene of an auto accident. The driver had been thrown out of the vehicle and impaled by a piece of metal between the car and a tree. It was apparent that when they removed the metal that the man was going to bleed to death immediately. What do you do and how do you minister to a dying stranger? I was able to find the family who lived close by and bring them to the accident. I let the wife and children say goodbye to him before he died. I was also able to minister to the man according to the experience the man had with his God. Sometimes we are asked to be the Good Samaritan and minister to the man, his family leaving the rest to God.
Yet another shooting in the American workplace, the news reported. Reflecting back when the news broke that six employees of the United States Post Office were tragically killed by a fellow worker, that incident so shocked Americans that a new phrase was added to our vocabulary. -?Going Postal' Recently I counted five school shootings within a two week period. What use to shock us has now become a way of life, many times hidden in the back of the paper unless the numbered murdered exceeds the last mass killing. According to the Department of Labor and Industry, workplace violence is the second leading cause of death in the workplace. How are industries coping with workplace rage and other crises? They have turned to chaplains.
The reason is simple. Chaplains become the first line of defense against workplace rage by building relationships through weekly visits to the workplace and in time the one the employee will look to for spiritual help. As a neutral third party, chaplains have their hands on the pulse of the individual employee including many times their family situations. They are able to detect and defuse rage at its first signs, long before it boils over. Chaplains are there when their family member goes to the hospital, funeral home, wedding chapel, divorce court, injury on the job or when they are having a down day. So, chaplains become both proactive and then post-active when crises occurs.
Perhaps the burden to sit where they sit has touched you while reading this article and you are feeling that you need to fulfill the call of the Master and to be that Good Samaritan. The Division of Education, directed by Dan Batchelor, has grasped the great burden of chaplain ministry with both hands. He along with the Department of Chaplaincy director A Glass and our wonderful Military Chaplains, have joined with three other areas of chaplaincy to create an awesome opportunity for men and women to enter the area of chaplain ministry. Here are the four areas.
1. Military/VA Chaplaincy (Gary Truman, MO, Asst Endorsing Agent, Director; Kip Averett, RI, Strategic Officer; Carlos Ruiz, CA, Co-Director; Robert Brott, NC, Global Impact)
2. Occupational/Corporate Chaplaincy (William Dillon, AR, Director)
3. Fire/Police Chaplaincy (Mark Hattabaugh, FL Director)
4. Health/Medical Chaplaincy (Ray Hawkins, FL, Director)
The Department of Chaplaincy has teamed up with several areas of training to give the most flexibility to those already doing chaplain work and for availability of training. Our basic courses come from Urshan Graduate school of Theology (UGST), but we also recognize training from the International Conference of Police (ICPC) Chaplains, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), Hospitals (CPE) programs, universities and many other creditable, field related, courses.
You never know when chaplain training will be needed. I am reminded of one of the first classes that we held with UGST. The host pastor, David Sagle of Chicago area, was suddenly thrust into a crisis situation just hours after finishing the chaplain course. On his way home an accident found him standing next to the Mayor of Elmwood Park helping with the situation as it unfolded. Being trained and on-site placed Chaplain Sagle in a place to serve many during the time of their crisis. The accident happened during rush hour about 10 miles west of downtown Chicago, when a Metro express train ran into five vehicles on the track, smashing them into 11 other automobiles. It took hours to untangle the wreckage and conduct the investigation. Through the long night of new reports and official statements, Chaplain Sagle was asked to remain with the mayor and workers as a chaplain support. You can be ready to the next crisis in your area.
One last area that I believe is so lacking in our abilities to minister to our world is disaster and catastrophe response. During 9-11 the UPCI had no chaplains deployed to ground zero. During the many shootings and catastrophes since, we have not sent chaplains to the sites. I know of only two times that there were responses. One was my own District Superintendent, B. J. Thomas, who is the head chaplain for Arkansas State Police. The State Police flew him to Jonesboro School during that shooting. The other is, Matt Maddox responded on a personal level to the college shooting in NC. If you know of any other people that have responded or are a member of a response team please email me at director@ocachaplains.com It is our desire to create response teams to minister to people in the times of their greatest need. The prophet wrote, "I sat where they sat."
You may go to www.ocachaplains.com to find out what is required to become a chaplain and download an application. Our Police/Fire chaplain site is www.chaplainsonpatrol.com
By Chaplain William Dillon
