An Okotoks couple has turned retirement into the opportunity to give back.
Rick Benner and his wife Sally have been working as chaplains with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada, providing emotional and spiritual support to Canadians in crisis when major events strike.
“Our first deployment was in Fort McMurray in 2016,” said Benner. “We’ve been on a dozen or so deployments since then.”
The couple accompanied Samaritan’s Purse in Humboldt after the tragic bus crash in 2018, helped with efforts in Ottawa after its 2018 tornado, in Fredericton after flooding and in Salmon Arm after a mass shooting earlier this year. Their most recent mission was on Prince Edward Island in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.
They were on the Island from Sept. 24 to Oct. 12 while Samaritan’s Purse helped remove fallen trees from people’s homes and yards and cleaned up after the hurricane had destroyed property.
“People need help during that kind of thing,” said Benner. “Often we are just a ministerial presence, just there for folks, for emotional support.”
He said there were a number of senior citizens who couldn’t afford to do reparation work themselves, which is where Samaritan’s Purse comes in to help clean up and repair properties without cost to residents.
“We come alongside and see how they’re doing and help them,” said Benner.
He said sometimes people affected by disasters or emergencies have other issues bubble to the surface amidst the turmoil. It causes the current situation to become even more stressful, he said.
“We come along and reassure them,” said Benner. “If they’re all stressed out we remind them they are normal in an abnormal situation. We reassure them they’re okay.”
Being crisis-trained rapid response team chaplains was a natural step for the couple – Benner spent his career as a pastor.
Though he may have the right mindset, he said it’s still difficult to roll up on certain situations, and you never know what you’re going to face until your feet are on the ground.
When asked if any particular deployment stuck out for him, Benner’s response was quick.
“Humboldt,” he replied. “It took a while to get over that, because it was quite a grieving time for people.”
The Benners use a mobile ministry unit, somewhat of a rolling chapel, and he said it was set up in Humboldt and a number of people came through. There were a lot of tears and emotional conversations had, he said.
“You go away carrying that with you,” said Benner. “It wasn’t until a few months ago I was able to watch the documentary they did on TV for that.
“That was such a traumatic situation, and it was probably the most impactful one we have experienced.”
