LU Send Now deploys to Georgia

When Hurricane Michael caused devastation in the southern United States in mid-October, Liberty University’s LU Send Now department quickly began plans to deploy teams to both Florida and Georgia to minister amidst           the crisis.

An LU Send Now team was deployed to Albany, Georgia, Oct. 21 with LU Send Now’s new area of ministry, which primarily deals with psychological and spiritual aid in crisis. In the past, LU Send Now primarily deployed teams with the mission of providing humanitarian-style relief. However, LU Send Now hopes that this new area of ministry will open more doors for students to learn how to approach individuals affected by trauma. 

“There’s power in self-discovery, and people just need to
process,” Holly Griswold, associate director for LU Send Now, said. “Especially in getting out of trauma and processing healthily, you need to logically go through it.”

The team deployed to Albany is small; just three students and trip leader, Shawn Stoicu. During the trip, the volunteers will be partnering with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team and acting as chaplains in trauma ministry. The mission of the team is to share hope in crisis by approaching devastated homeowners and helping them process the trauma they are experiencing.

“When people are going through this, it’s not just what’s right in front of them and what needs to physically be done,” Griswold said. “It’s also the emotion and the processing and just the personal well-being after something so life-jolting changes.”

This is the first official trip that is student-involved with this new part of LU Send Now. Students on the trip were trained under a program called “Sharing Hope in Crisis,” which teaches the do’s and don’ts of ministering in trauma. The training equips students how to calmly approach those dealing with crisis, how to phrase processing questions without patronizing the victims and how to introduce them to the hope that can be found in Jesus Christ.

“Unfortunately, trauma or crisis will happen to you or someone in your sphere, and how incredible would it be to already be equipped to minister to someone on the worst day of their life?” Griswold said.

Through this new program, LU Send Now hopes to train champions for Christ who will not only be better equipped to minister in crisis but will also be individuals who run to those dealing with disaster. 

Another team of LU Send Now students will be sent to Florida  November 5-11 to provide physical aid to those devastated by Hurricane Michael. The Liberty Champion will continue to provide coverage of Liberty’s relief efforts.

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