Well, part of the training up here is a 2 part training for Chaplaincy and Emergency Preparedness. For my younger readers asking, ‘What is a chaplain?’ I’ll tell you. It is like being a pastor except you work in a business or government position. I used to think chaplains were just preachers on the military bases, but I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been here about what they really do. You can learn more too at their international website: http://www.ifoc.org/. Chaplains work with businesses, police stations, military bases, hospitals, prisons, the courts, colleges, fire stations, nursing homes, biker clubs, search and rescue groups, and many many other organizations. Some of them are just on call for emergencies and others work full time. The cool thing is that once you are a member, you can go anywhere there is an emergency and help the people in need. Even if the police won’t let people get through to help, they will let the chaplains through because the chaplains have the same emergency training police have. Last year some of the ministry students used their chaplain badges to go help after Hurricane Katrina. They were able to go right to the people in worst need because the police allowed them to go right to the worst hit areas where the general public volunteers could not go. Because of the training this week, you won’t be hearing from me. We have 45 hours of training and a test to become certified. I’ve changed the website a little because of that. Now, if you post a comment it will show up immediately. I hope the site continues to generate some conversation this week. I’ve been happy to see several of you communicating. I hope that as I have time to share things we are learning through the ministry here, it will bring encouragement to you all as well.
Happy commenting…
