Just after the shooting tragedy in Lewiston, Maine, nine chaplains arrived hoping to do their best to encourage a community that was shell-shocked. These chaplains are seasoned followers of Christ, many of them with a background in law enforcement. They’re part of what’s known as the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BGRRT), a special division of the ministry set apart to quickly travel to places where the unthinkable has taken place.
We made contact with James Kilgore, the chaplain coordinator with the BGRRT as they served in Lewiston.
Because a ‘shelter-in-place’ recommendation was still in effect when they arrived, the chaplains initially interacted with some of the 500 first-responders. How were they coping? “It’s extremely hard, you cannot ‘un-see’ what you have seen” and these first-responders experienced visual trauma. The BGRRT is working with local authorities to help police, firefighter, and paramedic families. It’s a de-briefing, “they have to tell their stories,” explains Kilgore. “Healing comes when you tell your story … They have to get together, tell their stories, share their hearts and find that healing as well.”
When the danger had passed and people were back on the streets, Chaplain Kilgore and team walked the town to just listen. Kilgore noticed one particular thing that had made the emotional situation even worse. “People couldn’t get out and talk and meet and great for two days” because of the ‘shelter-in place’ order. “And they lived in fear for those two days in their homes, not knowing where he (the shooter) was, if he was lurking around.” How stressful was it? “We have talked to people who were on their floor, praying with their children, ‘God protect us and take care of us.’”
Drawing on his years of sharing Jesus in hard situations, like Lewiston, Uvalde, and Nashville, Kilgore has spotted something consistent when bad things happen. “This action here all began with a thought.” And if a person retains that dark thought, “You keep pondering it, thinking about it to the point where it keeps going deeper and deeper and deeper.” In the tragedy in Maine, he says it’s likely that for the shooter, “That thought kept building and building and building to where he entered these facilities and killed 18 people” and wounded many others.
Kilgore warns, “We have to take control of our thoughts. And when the (wrong) thoughts come, we’ve got to reject them, we’ve got to get rid of them, (and for believers) we’ve got to plead the Blood of Jesus and get back in shape,” taking thoughts “into captivity” as 2 Corinthians 10:15 declares.
Looking at the need in Maine - and even in culture today - “They just kind of need some reassurance and a foundation to build their life on,” that, of course, is the Gospel. “This old world is crumbling. We’re living in a dark place. And so they’ve got to have light” that only comes from Jesus.
In our complete podcast interview, just below, Chaplain Kilgore shares detailed ways to let go of fears from bad experiences. “You’ve just got to get it out of your heart!” If a person can’t get the trauma out of their heart, they risk “discouragement, depression, and even PTSD.” You’ll also learn how Chaplain Kilgore is able to cope with being at the center of continual assignments that usually involve great loss and trauma. And his thankfulness for being able to serve God as part of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team.
