Oakton Training

Twenty-five new Hope Force International Reservists graduated from their intensive three-day training event held in Oakton, VA from April 11-13.

Gateway Community Church of South Riding, VA sponsored the training, while Whole Word Fellowship served as the venue host. Participants came from as far as away as Michigan and North Carolina and internationally, from Brazil and Switzerland. Others arrived at the training from Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. From consultants to IT managers to youth workers, caseworkers and housewives, nurses, moms and former military? the group not only ranged in experience and jobs, but also in age and backgrounds.

Throughout those few days, participants received teaching on essential teaching from a Christian worldview perspective such as Identity in Christ, Understanding Loss and Bereavement, Relationship Dynamics, and Principles for Effective Ministry.

HFI Reservist training is intense. Participants received introductions from Founders Jack and Cherie Minton, and were soon initiated into the reality that disaster is chaos. While some may have been apprehensive about their ability to serve in a disaster setting, Cherie reassured them: ?There?s a place for everybody ? and we want to equip you for where you fit?. You can do this!

Hope Force is committed to helping ?the least of these?. Jack said it means so much to people in disaster situations to tell them they haven?t been forgotten.

Jack also stressed the importance from the start of the Ministry of Presence, using an example of a woman he met soon after the Nashville tornados struck. This woman simply needed to process the scenario by being able to say out loud how she huddled together with others and hid from the oncoming destruction. While Jack and other Reservists spent Easter putting a blue tarp over her roof ? a few of the ladies in their group heard this woman?s story, providing that same Ministry of Presence.

Sometimes people don?t need anything to be done ? they just need someone to be there for them. It is into this kind of chaos that Hope Force Reservists are trained and able to step into.

Hope Force Reservists have an added advantage in a disaster situation ? the training is of great benefit no matter what area the Reservist serves in.

HFI?s national partner, the Salvation Army, often comments on the quality of people from HFI who work with them in disaster relief. The people are the same, but the training makes a world difference.

 ?We are committed equally to the survivor and the responder,? Cherie told the group.

Speaker David Buering, Founder and Team Leader of the Lionshare Leadership Group, said, ?Hope Force is one of the only organizations that prepares people spiritually before putting them into the field? The Bible talks as much about honoring others as it does obeying the Lord.?

Some participants initially thought they would learn more practical hands-on skills during the first day of the training and were surprised by what they did learn instead.

Members of Whole Word Fellowship, Milan and Ellen Sr?ki? came to the training together. Milan commented that his wife wanted to come more than he did, but he decided to join her in any case. He said, ?I came expecting to help people, but I got more out of this personally than I thought!?

Dan Sneed went through Identity and Self-Image and stressed the difference between the two. Identity is how God sees you ? how you are, while Self-Image is how you see yourself.

It is difficult in a disaster and chaotic situation to help a person in distress, if you are not sure of yourself and your own identity and self-image.  Dan assured the group: ?You do not have to be God?s answer to the hurting person. You have to love them.?

HFI is that opportunity to go into a disaster situation and show love towards a hurting person. Hank Heine said of Dan?s teaching, ?We try to give answers without knowing the question. You?ve broken down not only the house but the foundation, and you?ve given us the right foundation so that we can go forth on the right track with the right motives.?

A seasoned Reservist from California, Hank audited the course and also gave a brief presentation on Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT).  CERT teams help to respond to disasters and other emergency, particularly when the city?s first responders do not have enough resources. For example, a city of 100,000 has an estimated 100 responders, which is not nearly enough in many events. This is where CERT comes in.

Numerous skills are needed in any disaster situation, from hands-onn practical mucking out, to roofing, to adminstration, to simply listening.

Ellen Sr?ki? joined the International Red Cross as a caseworker right out of college, later leaving the job to raise a family. She initially joined the Red Cross because she wanted to contribute to society and felt like she wanted to help people. She recalls the job with fondess, and says it was her favorite one ever. Now, seeing more and more disasters, she realizes that instead of sitting around being afraid, she could go and get ready in the event of an impending scenario.

She has already seen her share of disaster situations. Working at the Center of Amputees at a naval hospital, she mentioned meeting Vietnam vets. She recalled seeing men on stretchers, ?cold turkey? as she put it.

?Nobody warned me?, Ellen said. She took a deep breath and did her job as she put it, but now appreciates how training may have benefited her back then.

With Ellen?s skills as a caseworker already under her belt, she has also completed an emergency course in chaplaincy. Now with HFI?s training, she is more than qualified to serve as a Reservist.

Chaplain Chuck Duby and Training Coordinator Sue Duby led the group in various exercises and activites to get them comfortable with the idea that anything can happen in a disaster, and how body language and listening in the right manner can make all of the difference in communication.

Craig Snow spoke on the importance of going to the next level in War, West Virginia. HFI has been serving there for three years, but needs to go to the next level to get someone else there able to serve teams.

Alex York part of Gateway Church in Virginia had previously served in War. Now his church has gotten involved in War as well, and this summer they plan to take a trip to Haiti.

Craig offered reasons for how the organization responds to an area:

1.     Places that are forgotten ? places not in mainstream

2.     ?Circle of Relationship ? paramount ? through a chain of relationships

3.     Look for an area least talked about.

He also talked about Atlantic City. Although Atlantic City is in the mainstream, it was the exception to the rule. After Superstorm Sandy, Atlantic City didn?t have the dramatic, but had the traumatic. Atlantic City was also HFI?s first response in gloves and sweaters -- typically hurricanes and storms happen on the southern coast, in warmer climate. October?s storm ushered in snow in the weeks to come.

At an initial glance, Atlantic City didn?t seem to have a lot of devastation. Because of this, the city seemed to be overlooked and in the first two weeks after the storm, HFI didn?t encounter any other charities in the area.

Typically in a recovery situation, HFI has been part of a group of charities. In Atlantic City however, Craig returned to pioneer and create a long-term recovery group. Now, they need case workers, grant seekers, and the structure so that other organizations can come in and link up.

Craig stressed the importance of the training, citing an example of one person who didn?t work out in the field -- and that person thought the training was useless. In all of his deployments, Craig said that was the only person who didn?t fit on the field.

Participants in the Oakton training definitely felt like the training was useful, both on the field and off.

Karen Ritchey from Grace Covenant Church in Lewistown, PA said after the training: ?I feel like a sponge. I can?t absorb any more, but I want to!?

HFI has hosted over 50 trainings since their start 10 years ago. Cherie commented: ?We sit through this training over and over and every time we take away something new.?

Gina Cobb, pastor at Whole Word Fellowship reminded the attendees: ?Whatever you do makes a difference.?

Gina and her family experienced three hurricanes in a 21 day period in Florida, 2004. They were at day 26 without a hot meal, eating MREs and canned beans. She described the scene as a war zone. Then something changed.

?Someone handed me a hot ham sandwich and some hot macaroni and cheese. I just broke down. I don?t even really like ham, but I realized it was the first hot meal I?d had in weeks.?

Gina reminded the Reservists, ?Don?t think that whatever you do doesn?t make a difference ? it does. God has a place for you ? whatever you do makes a difference.?

Now, Gina?s church is active in preparing people for disasters. So far, they have trained 25 people in Red Cross training and now they have a number of Reservists. Whole Word Church is considered an ?anchor church? for HFI -- if a disaster should strike in the area, the church is part of a network of churches who would work together as an incident command center. HFI Chaplain Chuck Duby would also contact them from a chaplaincy perspective.

?The church is supposed to be part of the solution, not the problem. Here with HFI, you?re getting good solid training,? Gina told the Reservists.

So far HFI has trained over 1300 people. Jack reminded the new Reservists that ?Most of the people can?t go all of the time, but some of the people can go some of the time.?