Firefighters Faith

A Firefighters 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."
 
Please listen as NYC Firefighter John Morabito shares his Faith during and after 9-11-2001.   Larry Cockman       
 
 
FAITH IN ACTION IN THE GFD

By: Gary Church

In 1994 I started Sunday Bible study at the new Station #5 when Wallace Underwood, Chris Bowman and
Bryan Kincaid came to me and ask 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. One Sunday Gary Knight, who was assigned to C shift work 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 ask me would I come to his baptism the next Sunday and I ask him when did
he get saved and 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 ask 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 he 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. 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 ask 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 ask 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. 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 ask me to explain something he had been reading in a Christian
Booklet that Robert Johnson gave him. So I ask 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 ask him to set up an obstacle course at a youth camp
at Souratown Mountain. While Chris and David were returning to Greensboro Chris ask 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 ask 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 died. 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. 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.