Billy Graham Chaplains Return to Ferguson

As unrest continues in Ferguson, Missouri, the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team has returned to the area at the request of the community.

Tension heated up again in Ferguson after two police officers were shot at a rally last Thursday.

New waves of protests took place last week after the Justice Department released a report claiming the Ferguson Police Department had a history of racial profiling. Many top city officials resigned in response, including the police chief and city manager.

With the latest round of protests and riots, members of the Ferguson community reached out to the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team. They asked for crisis-trained chaplains to help quell the disorder.

CBN News spoke with Jeff Naber, with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, about how these chaplains are helping bring peace and reconciliation to the community. Click play to hear more about their efforts.

Since then, at least four chaplains from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association have returned to Ferguson, and more may follow. This is the team's second deployment to Ferguson in four months.

The chaplain team first went to the city in November as protests heated up over the grand jury's decison not to convict the officer who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown. The team stayed there though the start of the new year.

During that six weeks, 81 chaplains from the team talked and prayed with more than 1,200 people in all parts of the Ferguson community.

Some of those counseled included law enforcement officers and members of Brown's family.

Tensions appeared to cool until the Justice Department released their report on racial bias in the police department.

After the shooting of Michael Brown, Jr., the need for hope and change cried out from the streets of Ferguson. See how Rapid Response Team chaplains helped. Watch more below, from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

The report said "data collected by the Ferguson Police Department from 2012 to 2014 shows that African Americans account for 85 percent of vehicle stops, 90 percent of citations, and 93 percent of arrests made by FPD officers."

The situation escalated last Thursday when two police officers were shot during an anti-police demonstration outside the police department.

As tensions grew, uniformed BGEA chaplains walked out into the protests to calm people down by praying and sharing the love of Jesus with them.

Since Sunday, the chaplains have not gone far from the protestors and continue to minister to the community.