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 Chaplain Ray Giunta is a Senior Chaplain at We Care Ministries having served at the National disasters of Killeen Texas, Olivehurst, CA school shootings, Oklahoma City, the World Trade Centers in New York City, and most recently, the Washington DC area sniper shootings. He is an Ordanied Minister with the Evangelical Church Alliance and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He has Advanced Training in Critical Incident Stress Management and holds a membership in the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. He holds a BA Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Social Work, and also a BA in Pastoral Studies.
Our vision includes partnership with local, state and federal agencies to assist We Care Ministries (WCM) to grow this disaster relief effort nationwide. We are small, but flexible and resourceful. After Hurricane Charley, we were on-site serving local and individual needs 72 hours before either the American Red Cross (ARC) or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). After Hurricane Katrina, We Care Incident Commanders were assessing needs 4 days after the event. Teams were deployed from Nevada, Maryland, and Nebraska over a 3-week period managing and assisting efforts on the ground in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Every activity accomplished by WCM teams began as grass roots efforts using private funding through church offerings and individual donations. Imagine what we could do with consistent funding! Our hope is that by using federal, state, and other grant agency resources, we will be able to continually train teams throughout the nation to assist in disaster relief locally, nationally, or internationally at any time. Without any marketing efforts, WCM already has churches across the nation asking for training. Without adequate funding, we are able to train sporadically and part time. We realize we can not do it alone and happily welcome the support of ARC, FEMA, Salvation Army, Samaritan’s Purse and others. Our goal in these efforts is to serve as a bridge between the local church and area and federal governments. For example, via a federal grant, and partnership with our local government, WCM received FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training as well as Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) training. As a parachurch national organization, WCM provides a strategic conduit to churches of all denominations through training and resources. WCM staff and teams desire to serve others and represent various mainline evangelical churches. Participation on WCM teams is by application [link to application] and requirements include willing hands, servant’s heart, and willingness to positively serve with others. Additionally, team members are required to accept, respect, and be accountable to the team leadership. WCM looks forward to working all those involved in relief efforts.
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