Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8 NKJV)
While becoming ordained and trained/continuing training in Chaplaincy and pastoral care is the primary goal and function, there are the other parts of being a servant to your church body, generally the physical tools, the knowledge skill sets and qualifications, and the implementation of a ‘first responder’ type infrastructure in your daily life. Assessing your area of interest and operation in a deliberate and comprehensive way will inform what additional skill sets and equipment you need to acquire and organize into a deployable mode.
The characteristics of a community and the typical kinds of situations and events people find themselves in are one aspect of preparing your gear. Having thought of these ahead of time on behalf of your community, acquire the equipment and skills to be available to help in these situations. Having radio communications that operate in a ‘grid down’ environment is a core capability that facilitates and leads to being able to give aid and assistance across the spectrum of emergent and everyday needs of the community. Having the skills and gear ready to go when called, is the prepared part of being a chaplain.
Having an appropriate vehicle is fundamental. Regardless if you’re at home or work much of the time, having your gear stored and maintained in your vehicle is key. A pickup truck or even a SUV of good size is a better choice of vehicle, both for storage but also for accessing off-road. A 4×4 with good traction tires is obviously necessary for access in various terrain, but also for all-weather road conditions and the capability to help other vehicles that might be stuck or disabled. It follows having mechanic tools, jumper cables, pull strap, even a winch are good acquisitions. Make easily accessed points on your vehicle for tow straps, etc. Do people often use boats where you live? Livestock? Live in RV trailers? Make sure your rig has towing capability then. Have a multi-purpose trailer available to haul hay, and many other possible things to help others. All things mechanical in the sphere of your community will have issues at some point, including your own, so having the ability to affect a repair that will last is important. As in all forms of aid, you cannot help others if you can’t help yourself.
Pro Tip: installing an receiver/insert tow hitch available in the rear and front of your vehicle allows you to tow/pull a trailer, boat, etc. in more scenarios. Also, having a winch that is put on a platform that is welded on an modified insert hitch allows you to put it on the front and rear of your vehicle. Being able to perform winching/pulling of a vehicle in the safest and most easily accessed manner is a huge advantage.
Often weather creates complicated issues for homeless and low income folks, namely heating and viable shelter. [On the reservations in the Great Plains for example (and not the only one), winter is not only a harsh season but a time of extreme trial for the community. Poverty and lack of resources to repair/maintain homes, heating systems, and poor accessibility to food and aid, especially with elderly community members, creates a state of emergency where death is too common and help is very limited. There are places in the U.S. that are living in third world conditions that don’t receive the aid they need. I endorse this charity and have made donations when I’m able: Native American Heritage Association. If you’re not tithing, this is a good place to start. Having tarps and rope of good quality, a sleeping bag, some firewood or other heating instruments is a very welcome gift to someone whose home is not up to the task of keeping someone out of the elements. Pole tents aren’t that expensive for a basic model, but can be the start of keeping a person out of the elements that could have devastating consequences otherwise. Put one in your rig to give away as well as some storable food. Peanut butter is a great and welcome gift for protein and fat and is usually a comfort food. Food that is ready to eat, durably packaged, and commonly liked is always good to have on hand. Some ponchos, warm socks, a beanie, can make a huge difference in a tough moment for someone. Remember that a sleeping bag and tent/tarp are not completely effective without a full stomach.
Additionally, as you step up to serve your community, becoming aware of the difficult times encountered during the seasons and working ahead of time to aid your community to prepare for those times is definitely the next step in addition to responding to emergent events as a servant of the body of Christ.
Of course having Bibles to hand out is quintessential. I have a box of them in the truck, and one always prepared with some cash inside to hand out. I let people know there’s money inside as they may turn down the Bible. It’s all freely offered with no tricks or conditions. There are organizations that will give you Bibles for outreach for free. I get Bibles from Armed Services Ministry
First aid gear on board is essential. Equally essential are first aid skills. Get trained, and invest in first aid items that you know how to use competently and are qualified to use if they are more than the basics. This subject is vast and full of much information and even legal aspects. Know what you can and can’t do, and be as capable to render aid as you can be. Don’t buy gear thinking that you’ll use it in an emergency and it won’t matter because there may be immanent loss of life; things like using Narcan, sutures, epi pens, are all more complicated and may not be covered by Good Samaritan Laws (Don’t know what those are? Look it up in your state. As a chaplain you should be very familiar with these laws for your area). Additionally you may cause more harm than good. Suturing, for example, is a skill you cannot improvise because you understand the concept but haven’t been trained and practiced in it. You’ll likely cause more trauma. Steri-strips are much more effective and safe in the field. Medical staples are more suited for major trauma. How and when to apply them effectively, and any first aid, is crucial. These are general ideas, not meant as instructive; just because you saw it in a movie means absolutely nothing.
Most chaplains in the field have a pastor’s go bag. This is a the civilian chaplain’s version of a military chaplain’s kit. My go bag has resources for pastoral care such as my Minister’s Bible, my stole, badge/credentials, notebook, and field altar items like a small table crucifix, electric candles, a altar cloth, and anointing oil, etc. I have pastoral care manuals to aid my outreach. I also have specific resources printed as a hand out with local social service agencies and their contact information along with what they can provide. I hand these out to folks who may need help. In preparing such a handout, the prepared chaplain will want to contact these agencies and verify the nature and availability of the service, and that the contact info you will be giving out is viable and up to date. Simply copying info from the internet doesn’t mean that info is good so vet the info so you can truly know you are providing a resource, not a vain, empty act of charity. I even will talk to the agency contact person and introduce myself. Getting to know these people beyond a precursory call can lead to an elevated ability to provide care that is more personal and effectual. When I talk to the person in need, on the street or in the community, having personally talked with the agencies I am recommending creates a more dynamic and effective outreach. When a person in need can call an agency and say “Chaplain Dave suggested I call you” and the person on the other end of the phone says, “Oh yes, I know Dave, I’m glad that he recommended you to me. How can I help you?” there is so much more warmth and welcoming then there would be in a ‘cold call’. Bureaucracy is frustrating and intimidating to anyone, imagine how it is for someone who is in dire need? The personal connection that you have with these agencies creates a much more intimate connection for someone in need of intimate, caring connections.
In being prepared, then be eager to give aid. Reach out to anyone who may need assistance, and wisely discern what you can do for them. Make yourself known, and become someone who people recognize. Stop to talk to, counsel, and pray with people both on the street and in the community. Become familiar with the vulnerable, their issues and needs; show up and check in on them regularly. Their burden is your burden, the burden of Christ. A conversation and prayer will help put a person’s difficulties in perspective, and reaffirm there are people in their lives who are available to help them; who can not only ‘give them a fish’ but ‘teach them how to fish’. Always be ready to pray on their behalf; never forget what a powerful and effective tool prayer is. Be the presence of Christ for them, constantly exercise the chaplain’s primary mode of ministry, the ministry of presence. The is the social networking of a community chaplain, developing first hand, dynamic, ongoing relationships with people in the community and rallying to their aid.
Show up and stand up for others, always. We are all saved by faith, but we are known to others through our works, and so Christ and His salvation for all becomes known through our works. Use the grace God gives you, not merely content to have received it, be hearers and doers of the Word.
In reality, the assessing of hypothetical aid and assistance scenarios goes beyond what one can flesh out in a single article as they are myriad and contingent on many specific characteristics of your area of operation and as a chaplain, your pastoral responsibility. Instead of trying to think of everything, it is better for each person to cultivate knowledge and dynamic situational awareness of the community and its needs. One’s mindset, attitude, and ability to adapt in preparing to render aid, pastoral and other, to those you serve is critical. I’d rather impart this mindset and attitude than any specific skill or tool. As a minister to the body of Christ, you are directly working with the Lord to build, edify, and care for the local church, and as such your relationship to Christ and the body of Christ is a primary one. Study scripture, pray, and prepare to stand as salt and light in the fallen world for those who yet cannot. This is Christian duty.
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:14-17 NKJV)
Sons Of Thunder Signal Corps Ministry 