OFFERING HOPE AMID DESPAIR
Calgary chaplain provides psychological first aid in disaster-hit areas
When people despair in the aftermath of natural disasters or dreadful man-made violence, Calgary chaplain Janet Voth does her best to offer a helping hand along with a sympathetic shoulder to cry upon.
She has been doing that for many years as part of the Billy Graham Response Team, a group of committed individuals who often work alongside volunteers doing the physical reconstruction work urgently needed in the aftermath of such tragic events.
However, there is a need for more than just the restoration and rebuilding of downed buildings and flooded homes. Very often there is a greater need for someone to simply stop and listen to the voices of heartache from those affected. That is what Voth has learned how to do.
She recently returned to Calgary from Naples, Fla, where she led a team of such chaplains who arrived in the city from across North America to offer support following the dreadful devastation caused by hurricane Irma.
It was not a new situation for her. She has witnessed disasters here in Alberta, across Canada and around the world. She has also been on scene following terrorist attacks, such as recent atrocities in Germany and Belgium. Each tragedy, however, is unique.
Voth was picked for such a difficult counselling role after successfully completing the rigorous critical incident stress management training program — CISM for short — which instructs people how to deal with the various levels of grief following traumatic events. She describes it as psychological first aid.
In Naples, she worked alongside volunteers from Samaritan’s Purse — people who had arrived from across the continent to do the heavy lifting of clearing streets and erecting makeshift tarps across the emptiness of blown-away roofs in the worst hit areas.
“We went into areas the hardest hit,” says Voth. “Unfortunately, in most cases, those are often in the mobile home parks — the people who cannot afford the fancier homes that are hurricane-protected. They get hit the most. Many of these are retirement communities, so a lot of the people we were dealing with were 75 to 90 years old, which is really tough when they are looking at their homes busted up or gone.
“Most of the time, people are feeling like they are lost and abandoned and then we come along,” she says. “The Billy Graham name is very well known in the United States; they see us and instantly, even if they are not of the Christian faith, they feel that there is someone there who they can trust, who will hear them, will stand beside them and let them cry. We will hold them sometimes and cry with them, whatever is necessary, but just to feel the pain they are going through.
“At those moments, they can’t process this,” says Voth. “Most of them don’t understand this is a stage of grief and that is part of our training — to help them understand that what (they) are feeling is normal and talking about it is critical.”
For Voth, dealing with those directly affected by the hurricane wasn’t the only challenge. She also had to help and listen to the volunteers from Samaritan’s Purse who were dealing with such stark emotions every day. And, as co-ordinator, she had more than a dozen other chaplains for whom she was responsible.
“That’s a huge part of it,” she says. “We come alongside the team and talk to them and share with them. We look for clues that show they are struggling.”
Assignments to such disaster areas are usually limited to two weeks. Longer terms than that risk burnout and emotional distress for the volunteers. For Voth, returning to Calgary means being able to debrief and de-stress by talking it over with her husband, who is also a chaplain.
“My husband and two of my closest friends are also chaplains, so they help me debrief. We have to do that,” she says. “As the chaplain co-ordinator, I don’t have someone to help on the ground so much but I do have that at home. I never feel I am coming home and have to carry this.”
Voth — who completed the training on her own time and expense — has been doing this work for five years. While she’s now on contract for those occasions when such tragedy hits, it is far from full-time work. But it is a way of living out her Christian faith
“This is something I have a passion for and have moved into,” she says. “It is our way of giving back — a way of serving out our Christian faith.
“It gives us an opportunity to share our faith. People ask: ‘ Why are you here, why are you doing this?’ You are able to say, ‘God loves you and he has asked us to do this.’ It comes to the basis of our belief and it also allows people the opportunity to trust, to get this off my chest. Yes, we are just going to listen and be there,” says Voth, who has been involved in close to 20 such events.
Witnessing these natural disasters and the aftermath of terrorism has only strengthened her faith in God.
“It is unbelievable,” she says. “You see all that God is doing in the midst of this. We live in a fallen world and bad stuff happens, but God is always there to help in the midst of the clean up and we see that. It is so strong and so beautiful and strengthens my faith by far.”