YouthWorker Journal writer Ron Jackson interviewed four experts on surviving and ministering during crisis. Dr. Allen Jackson (no relation), Professor of Youth Education at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, has worked with others to address the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Beth Lueders is an author and award-winning journalist who has documented stories in nearly 20 countries. Her latest books are Two Days Longer: Discovering More of God as You Wait on Him and Lifting Our Eyes: Finding God’s Grace Through the Virginia Tech Tragedy. Beth is founder and director of MacBeth Communications, a writing and editorial business in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Matt Rogers knows the pain of depression, doubt and grief. As co-pastor of New Life Christian Fellowship at Virginia Tech, he’s been able to use his four-year battle with doubt and depression to help many students understand and find ways to cope with their own struggles. He is the author of Losing God and When Answers Aren’t Enough: Experiencing God as Good When Life Isn’t.

Heather Snodgrass was a Young Life leader at Columbine High School from 1998 until 2004. She is currently the Children’s Ministry Director and Youth Leader at Ames Baptist Church in Oklahoma.

Here’s what Ron found out:

YouthWorker Journal: All of you have dealt with major crises. What did you learn along the way?

Matt Rogers: In times of crisis, our students need to be surrounded by the body of Christ, mainly the people they know love them and can represent God to them at a time when they might not be able to feel God’s presence on their own.

Beth Lueders: One of the big things I’vev learned is everyone reacts, responds and grieves differently. Crisis for one person might not be crisis for another. Individuals even within the same family may react differently to a particular situation. We need to develop sensitivity to the fact that others might not react to a crisis in the same way we might.

Heather Snodgrass: For most of us we hear about tragedy in front page news, but it fades away pretty quickly. For those of us who were in the tragedy or giving care to students who were, it was a long time before things returned to normal. Right after Columbine, we heard a lot about how “God is good.” Honestly, as time wore on, it became more difficult actually to believe that. It taught me a lot about my own faith, and most importantly, that Christ is sufficient for all our hurts and struggles.