WorldSpan Ministries in Southeast Asia

February 2005

WORLDSPAN MINISTRIES PROVIDES TRAINING IN TSUNAMI AFFECTED AREAS OF THAILAND

Charlotte based WorldSpan Ministries, traveled to Bangkok, Thailand in February of this year to help meet an urgent need for the training of pastors, workers, and care givers in CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management)...Crisis Intervention. President of WorldSpan Ministries, Daryl Barker, travelled with Dr. L.W. "Buddy" Nichols, Director of WorldSpan's International Chaplains Academy. Daryl and Dr. Nichols worked with AMG International out of Chattanooga, TN.

WorldSpan partnered with the group, "We Love Thailand" (WLT)-A consortium of 2,600 Thai churches and International Christian agencies, such as World Vision, World Concern, Food for the Hungry, Habitat, YWAM, just to name a few. Dr. Nichols assisted WLT and their care and counseling group as they worked to put into place a plan that will mean that the various short term teams will have the right training and debriefing and be integrated into the long term work. "While there, Dr. Nichols and I trained pastors, workers, and care givers in CISM. We also met with WLT to determine what our involvement should be for the future and prayerfully considering how God will direct us after this initial trip", said Daryl Barker.

There is a tremendous need to equip care givers in this area of crisis intervention. An English Language Newspaper in Thailand has reported that according to the World Health Organization "'Almost all people affected by the tsunami are suffering from some form of psychosocial trauma and that the trauma is more widespread than initially believed. These people need support urgently', WHO regional director for Southeast Asia. 'If such support is not provided, it could very likely end in yet another tragedy for some families, and we simply cannot allow this to happen', Dr. Chandra--WHO regional mental health adviser."

WorldSpan Ministries was founded in March 2002 by Max Helton, Founder of Motor Racing Outreach, and Daryl Barker, former Business Manager with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.