(Dec 5, 2016 UPDATE: The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team is sending chaplains to Oakland to assess how the organization can best serve the community in the wake of last night’s deadly warehouse fire. Please pray for the families that lost loved ones, for the many more affected, and for the chaplains as they seek to offer hope and comfort in the midst of a horrifying tragedy.)
Don't Give Up, Tenn., N.C., GA FIRES
By: Michael D. Tobin Dec 4, 2016
Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame scorch you.
The photo above for this broadcast is of Polo Gutierrez as he climbs onto the foundation of a destroyed home to try and see if his apartment building in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, is still standing after a wildfire swept through the area recently. Crisis-trained chaplains with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team will be in the area ministering to first responders and residents dealing with the aftermath of the deadly Tennessee blaze.
Here is a link to the most recent BGRRT article, Chaplains Responding in Wake of Deadly Tennessee Wildfires By BGEA • December 2, 2016) ( https://billygraham.org/story/chaplains-responding-wake-deadly-tennessee-wildfires/ ) The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team is deploying crisis-trained chaplains to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to offer emotional and spiritual care to a community recently devastated by deadly wildfires.
As many as 11 people have died and hundreds of structures have been impacted by the wildfire that local officials estimate covered more than 17,000 acres in Sevier County, notably Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
Smoldering wildfires still exist, and for that reason the evacuation order has not been entirely lifted. But in some areas, residents are being granted access to their homes for a period of time during the day. In Gatlinburg, where the chaplains will be ministering, that window goes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“We want to bring that hope and God’s comfort to people who are so devastated beyond words,” said Jack Munday, international director of the Rapid Response Team. “When your home burns, with it goes photographs that can’t be replaced. You have the memories and you can rebuild your home, but our role is to help people rebuild their lives in Christ.”
Munday has served on previous wildfire deployments, and he said there is an intense grief that people can encounter when they return home for the first time. In some cases, he noted, homeowners had to evacuate quickly and might have been unable to gather precious pieces of their lives such as pets and important papers. That adds another level to the grief.
The chaplains will be in Gatlinburg on Saturday morning and will come alongside first responders as well as home owners as they navigate next steps, shining the light of Christ along the way.
“For many people who have a relationship with Christ, there’s this faith that only God can reveal to them, to have that hope,” Munday said. “We don’t understand. We have questions, but somehow, some way, we believe God can help us through that. Then, there are folks that don’t have a relationship with Christ, and their grief looks like despair, hopelessness because of not having a confidence in the Lord.
“Our role is to assure them that God hasn’t forgotten them, and that He is there for them and to help them through the process of their grief. It’s an amazing experience to see how people can, in a moment’s notice, go from despair to hope. And that’s only something God can do in their life.”
Please be in prayer for all affected by these wildfires including families who lost loved ones, first responders who are tirelessly serving and residents who are just returning to their homes.
Today, I am announcing that through my Christian fundraising page through GiveSendGo, https://www.givesendgo.com/michaeltobin ,Please GIVE NOW TO HELP SEND ME TO SOUTHEAST FIRESTORMS/HURRICANE MATTHEW AFFECTED AREAS AS A BGRRT CHAPLAIN RESPONDER ) You can help me respond to these fires as a Billy Graham rapid response Team chaplain. And I have compiled over 7 hours of recent broadcasts including pts. 1-5 of my SCORN series based on Biblical accounts from the books of Nehemiah and the Jews rebuilding their city walls after years of captivity, and King Cyrus from the book of Isaiah; how the Jews were ridiculed, scorned and written off as lost causes, and how we as believers can see similarities of this past elections. But more importantly, how we as believers need to keep focused and don't give up on our true mission, to preach the Gospel to every creature as the Great Commission so specifically describes. Also, for historical and Biblical insight on our 2016 Presidential elections, for those who will help me launch me into full-time disaster response/broadcasting/evangelism & missions ministry, I am announcing that my kindle e-book, "Making America Righteous-Again: From Bitterness To A Delight", can be yours along with the SCORN Series and a bonus broadcast of the Donald Trump/Hillary Clinton pre-election roast, where they were supposed to use humor on each other as part of the annual Catholic charities benefit in New York City, the 71st annual Alfred E. Smith charity. Also I will have a rally broadcast where I was live in Hollywood, California for the third party candidate, Gary Johnson where he spoke. These broadcasts can be used in home fellowship, classroom purposes and historical reference, and my book will be enjoyed as an encouragement through each chapter on how we can maintaining the elements of joy, wonder, prayer and engagement in public, church and our every day walk with the Lord. It's main focus is, "you can do it and God will turn all bitterness into joy and gladness." I will email my book file along with the Michael Tobin Show broadcasts to all t who can make a contribution through my fund page or my paypal account, or whoever purchases my book through Amazon, simply by looking up the book's title or my name. Soon after raising enough to go on an actual response trip as a chaplain and simply keep my bills current, I plan on un-publishing my book from kindle, so I can have it published in paper form. So you will actually have it before it gets published. It will be a fantastic way to get the word out before it's paper launch and you will be my proof-readers! So just reply as you feel you would like to, and hopefully i will have all input before the actual publication/printing.
So by now, we've all most likely heard and seen on the news how devastating the fires are that began a few weeks ago in Georgia and North carolina. before that was Hurricane Matthew in the exact areas.
With my goal of $2,000 per month to become full-time long-term ministry, I can be ready to go anywhere at the drop of a hat, and I would be able to reach thousands more listeners globally with superior quality time and effort in broadcasting and production of the Gospel message and events, all with Biblical perspective. I have learned and mastered living on bare essentials and still being content. I have been a trained and deployed chaplain with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team and mine and millions of lives will never be the same because of how God uses us.
After one year being unemployed between Oct of 2015 and now, I'm now employed part-time with Home Depot, which I already have about 8 years past experience. I have in the past year been tenacious in setting myself up for full-time ministry, broadcast and disaster relief, as well as have also completed my first book in Kindle e-book form, labored in various side jobs and even re-visited Bible school for about a month priming up on study and the Word.
I've done all I can to request listener support on my online radio show covering the Gospel and world events and to be available to respond with Billy Graham disaster responses as a chaplain as I've been a chaplain since 2003 and have desired to preach full time. I haven't received support but I am like a plane ready for take-off! My next disaster responses or preaching engagements will be planned 4-day weekends until I'm full time with my job and acquire vacation and will be limited to vacation time for preaching and or disaster responses as I did several other times as a chaplain. But as I acquire funds, I will definitely be able to use them on travels. Currently I also have my adult son with me who has the desire to assist me in evangelism. He has also been born again and studied the Gospel since a child. I've got some strategy prayers up my sleeve too but in the meantime I'm really praying and doing what I can with what I can while I can. Many don't know it but revival is about to burst. And my desire is being part of it.
Also, concerning my book, with $1200 I plan on publishing and printing about 475 copies of my Kindle e-book; then distribute it in hard copy while taking it off of Kindle, where it has actually sold none since its' last January release. It was a great attempt and learning experience for future use, though! So I would be able to raise funds, selling and signing my books in person, which would be a tremendous blessing!
Specifically I am in need of listener and donor support to be able to respond as a chaplain with the Billy Graham rapid response team (BGRRT) to our many disasters here in the U.S.
Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, I deployed to Shreveport, Louisiana and ministered to many people in extraordinary ways. Then in September the following years' 1-year anniversary of Hurricane's Rita and Katrina, I deployed to New Orleans where the need was still great. One man came to a supply tent and he looked like death worn over and had absolutely no expression. Something was clearly spiritually and emotionally wrong with him. He told us his wife died of cancer 3 weeks before Katrina struck, and destroyed their home. We prayed with him, and you can see his picture in the photo gallery. It is the picture of him sitting on a chair smiling, and I am on the left sitting at a table while on my little cellphone wearing a black cap. He accepted Jesus as his Lord and savior, and immediately he had a permanent smile on his face. He told us afterward that he had not smiled one time since the previous year after his wife died. It was a miracle I had never seen before! Ten years later I still feel like crying just writing about it. He lost his wife! Then 3 months later he lost his home in one of the worst hurricanes ever! I hate to say it but he looked like a zombie. But because people sent some chaplains, we were there to help change this man's life. These are things those who help send others are a part of. So please know that.
So my living expenses like rent, utilities and cell phone, car insurance are very minimal, combined. We are like firefighters. We can't go if we are not available at a moment's notice, unless we are all retired. I'm not retired, and I desire to break that pattern of mainly retired persons being those who respond. They don't exactly appreciate being the only one's either. We need people from all able walks and ages. So please help me in this area.
Three past responses have been vacation time. Two have been weekends and after work because they were the firestorms here in 2003 & 2007 in San Diego, my home town. And my most recent deployment was a round-trip flight up to the San Francisco Bay Area which included a couple nights in a hostel and a rent-a-car while unemployed. Of course, a hostel is a European-style hotel with shared restroom and shower amenities. I've even slept in church basements, a K-Mart, and a community college gym on deployments. It is just the bare essentials to be able to minister full time as I am invited and able to go where there are needs every week of every month.
Currently I operate a Christian online broadcast show on a national radio network called, Fringe Radio network which has my show on their site. My show is called, The Michael Tobin Show which can be found on Fringe Radio Network and I broadcast Biblical teachings, lessons, interviews and current events and political events especially related to Biblical perspectives. Past ministry activities have been with Prison Fellowship, military civilian chaplain volunteer, homeless ministry, street witnessing with Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort and missions trips to Middle East countries, Jamaica, and Mexico. There's so much more. But now, I am led to do more disaster responce chaplain work. I've already responded to two major California fires and three hurricane locations in Florida, Texas and Louisiana, all since 2003 and as I mentioned above, my most recent BGRRT deployment was Franklin Graham's 13th of all 50 capitol stops, of which I served in Sacramento California. At each state capitol, citizens show up on the capitol steps to pray for our states and commit to engage and get involved in our nations policies.
Lately, I have been having to take a pass on quite a few emails and invitations from Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Rapid response team (BGRRT) chaplains ministries, including Canada wildfires, all of the recent and current Texas and Louisiana floods, and the most recent Hurricane Matthew affected areas, and NOW fires in Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia; all of which have Samaritan's Purse (SP) and BGRRT chaplains ministering to many people in the states affected. I'm hoping someone can help me out. As a broadcaster, missionary and first responder at heart, my heart keeps breaking as all these things occur. If you will forward this link and copy paste this message to your friends and church peers, I would greatly appreciate the help, and can even speak at your church functions to raise funds. BGRRT and SP both allow us to do our own fund-raising because air and travel expenses are the chaplain's and SP volunteer's responsibilities, and whatever accommodations are available, the ministry offers while on deployment.
The Bible says you have not because you ask not, and if a man does not work then he doesn't eat. Well, to be blunt, I can only ask so much, and after all I've prepared and been blessed enough to do for Jesus so far, it's either all or nothing. Another great scripture reference is, Galatians 6:2-5 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5. For every man shall bear his own burden.
Somehow I believe God has big plans instead of small plans. Which reminds me. The Bible also says who is faithful in the little will be in charge of much. So I would like to think I have a tad bit of potential in my vision for ministry, and not enough credit usually goes to good people who support ministers financially. Nobody can go unless they are sent, right? (-; So just in the past 5 months my son and I had driven cross-country and back after a few weeks at Bible school Summer camp events in Virginia, and without a few friends help, my son and I would not have had the ability to brush up on Bible school for a month of rigorous church scheduling, praying and listening to and learning from Bible scholars from all over the world. And on the way back, we had driven past all the affected fires areas, nearly touching the North Carolina border, driving through Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and so on through Texas, New mexico, Arizona and finally California. So while passing through Texas on the way back, I was UNABLE to go through the Dallas area where I would have LOVED to stop through and pay respects to Dallas Police following the recent cop killings, and here in San Diego, I was busy doing flood and water damage work with a contractor friend and was UNABLE to even drive 30 miles SOUTH of me to be a part of ANYTHING to do with San Diego's cop-killing shootings within THEIR police department. I can't exactly explain what is going on in our nation with all the disasters mostly beginning after the 9-11 attacks, but I am willing, more so than any sort of ability or qualifications I may have, to say yes Lord, and to GO, and speak in His name. And I actually am able to assist and pray with people following permission from proper authorities following all the various types of events. This, as you may be able to see, could be very aggravating for a Christian minister such as myself. Look at this reference concerning extremely disastrous times in Isaiah 3:7,8 7. In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people. 8.For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory. Who wants to go out and speak in the name of Jesus, now days? When the church finally comes to full life again and realizes the harvest truly is great, and the laborers are few, as Jesus foretold, and Isaiah the ancient prophet prophesied, what will we do? Why would Jesus ask, as Lukes recording in the Gospel of Luke: 18:8, "I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"
Gone are the days of wearing camel skin and eating locusts and honey like John the baptist, right? But I can honestly say I have shouted from the streets, highways and by-ways, as well as preach in homeless missions, prisons and some of the poorest places on earth, specifically Tijuana, MX just a 45 minute drive south of me, in city dumps and even an orphanage. Iv'e gone to my Jerusalem first, and tasted of Jamaica, Syria, Jordan and the nation of Israel as well. So funds would help with living expenses and costs, and full-time long-term quality ministry travels, and I would love nothing more than for my passion to become my livelihood. Sometimes I wish I did not have this passion, yet I am careful to not literally widh this, because it is the noblest cause within my personal desires, and everyone has their own callings and purposes. Mine is to go to the nations and preach the Gospel.
Your help would be greatly appreciated. With the right amount of significant time and effort I need to be available for long-term disaster response ministry I truly believe my knowledge, creativity and willingness need to be supported because there are very few on this Earth who can pursue their passion(s) to the highest degree. If there is anything anyone can do to keep me going, I would greatly appreciate it.
Please help me to reach my goals to respond to natural disasters as a Billy Graham Rapid Response Team Chaplain. Thank you and God bless you for considering!
So please help me to respond to natural disasters as a Billy Graham Rapid Response Team Chaplain by purchasing my first and new e-book released this year by selecting this link:
Making America Righteous-Again: From Bitterness To A Delight Kindle Edition
by Michael D. Tobin (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Making-America-Righteous-Again-Bitterness-Delight-ebook/dp/B01A1JPHUC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482353713&sr=8-1&keywords=making+america+righteous . If you would like the copies of the SCORN series broadcasts and my current e-form of my book, please email me and include in the email subject with "I GAVE; SCORN SERIES."
You may support my efforts through my paypal account at this link:
https://www.paypal.me/michaeldt My email address is: winwood1@live.com
And here is the link to my crowdsourcing page at: https://www.givesendgo.com/michaeltobin
