A Firefighter's Faith has been an important part in the lives and careers of most firefighters. While they practice several types of religious beliefs, one has to decide which is best for him or her. Each Firefighter will encounter so many dangerous situations and witness so much death and destruction that often times Faith in a higher being is the one factor that gets them through in many cases.
“In my career I have been in some situations where I prayed 'Lord please let me see my family again and please watch over all of us on this emergency call.'”
— Larry Cockman
Please listen as NYC Firefighter John Morabito shares his Faith during and after 9-11-2001:
John Morabito - Part 1
John Morabito - Part 2
John Morabito - Part 3
John Morabito - Part 4
Faith in Action in the GFD
In 1994 I started Sunday Bible study at the new Station #5 when Wallace Underwood, Chris Bowman and Bryan Kincaid came to me and asked if we could have a Sunday Bible study. I was so excited and answered yes! So we started the next Sunday we worked together. Each Sunday morning when possible we would announce it after station cleaning duties were over that anybody who wanted to attend to meet us in the TV room. We had some good fellowship and studies which strengthened our faith and gave us wisdom in making better decisions at the station, on the fire ground and in our homes. It brought our shift closer together. There were some special times during this era of our lives and some of these times are as follows:
- 1. Gary Knight & Paul Greer's Journey: One Sunday Gary Knight, who was assigned to C shift, worked on B shift at Station 5. When we had Sunday Bible study he attended. After the session he came up and thanked me for the class. Then a few weeks later Gary's C shift was relieving my B shift on a Sunday morning at Station 5. While I was getting ready to get off duty Gary asked me would I come to his baptism the next Sunday, and I asked him when did he get saved. He replied, “You know when I was attending your class, I went back to my room and said I want what was taught this morning.” So the next Sunday he attended a church that he had never attended before. He went into the sanctuary and nobody was there, but he heard voices in the basement. Just then a lady came into the sanctuary and invited him to their Sunday School Class, and after Sunday School he went back into the sanctuary for the worship service and during the invitation he went down and asked Christ to forgive him of his sins and become his Savior and Lord. I was overjoyed to hear that story, but what was great about this event was that later Gary Knight, Sharpe Wrenn, and Marty Seaman were having Bible study at Station 7 on Sunday and they stirred the interest of Firefighter Paul Greer that Sunday. Paul went to Reedy Fork Baptist Church and received Christ as Savior on November 28th, 1995 and was baptized at that church. Then Paul received the call to the ministry the summer in 1997 while visiting Emerald Isle Baptist Church on vacation. Paul left for seminary the summer of 1998, returned as Firefighter at the GFD, then worked bi-vocational while assigned at Station 12 and Station 9. He was licensed for the ministry in 2001 and ordained August 2004 after graduation from Liberty University. He then left for active duty as Chaplain March 2005. Paul's first job was Marine Casualty Evacuation Team in Iraq due to his fire and EMS experience.
- 2. Radio Host Terry Knight's Visit: The second special time at Station 5 was on C shift Sunday Bible Study. We had 107.5 radio host, Terry Knight, who was part of the Murphy in the Morning Radio Show come by to visit Station 5. We were having our Sunday Morning Bible study and Terry stayed to hear the message. She was interested and asked me several questions later about my belief as a Christian. I then invited her to the Bill Glass Crusade at the Coliseum where I worked as a counselor. Then on Tuesday of the Crusade after the invitation I was making my way back to the counseling room. When I entered the room, to my joy, I saw Terry there with tears in her eyes. I went straight to her and asked her would she like to receive Christ into her life and she said yes and prayed to receive Christ as Savior. But that is not the end of the story. Terry came by Station 5 on C shift and talked to several Firefighters about their faith walk and how it helped them being a Firefighter. She recorded the session and one Sunday she played it on 107.5 Station Radio Show. Terry went on to work with young girls in high school in the Youth for Christ Program and also spoke to area churches about her faith in Christ.
- 3. David Burch's Transformation: The third special time at Station 5 was on B shift Sunday Bible Study when Robert Johnson taught the Bible Study. After the study David Burch asked me to explain something he had been reading in a Christian Booklet that Robert Johnson gave him. So I asked David to come to my room and after answering his questions, David, with quivering lips stated he had been wanting to ask Christ to be in his life, so he prayed to ask Christ to be Savior. David stated he was thankful for his co-workers at Station 5 for encouraging him to come to Christ: Chris Bowman asked him to set up an obstacle course at a youth camp at Souratown Mountain. While Chris and David were returning to Greensboro Chris asked David was he a Christian and David said no, and then Chris said you should do that and David said not now. Then David while working with an old friend, Drew Clark, saw a difference in Drew's life who had recently rededicated his life to Christ. Consequently after that David asked Robert Johnson to help him in his lawn service and while cutting lawns one day Robert gave David a Christian booklet on how to be certain you have eternal life and will go to Heaven when you die. This booklet was the one David understood and he accepted Christ. After receiving salvation David went back to his room for about two hours. During this time I was so excited about David's decision that I told Robert, Drew, and Chris about David praying to receive Christ as Savior and Lord of his life. They were so excited about David's decision also. Then David came out of his room and went to each one of them thanking them for showing him Christ in their lives. A few weeks later David came to me and gave me a Christian tape and we went to my truck to play it. After the song, “Thank You” by Ray Boltz and with tears in our eyes, David told me thank you for leading him to Christ. Wow! I could not hardly speak I was so full of joy. After these events David was baptized and joined the church. Our shift was different after this. We all worked, trained, and played with joy and harmony as a team.
- 4. The Uplifters Bluegrass Gospel Group: We also had a Bluegrass Gospel group on C shift at Station 5 who played and sang inspirational music before our Sunday Bible Study started. This group consisted of David Williams, Steve Fuller, Brian Kincaid, and Randy Woody and the name of their group was The Uplifters. They truly lifted our spirit in worship before we started our Bible Study. The Uplifters also played for me at my retirement dinner and sang me a ballad that David Williams wrote for me. I will always remember what a blessed time this was for me. To GOD be the Glory for Great things He has done.