The buttons strained against the light khaki of his shirt uniform. Even my 12-year-old self knew that’s what buttons do when there is a bulletproof vest underneath. If you focus on the stress those poor little buttons are enduring long enough, you might, just might, be able to shut out the fact that an officer needed to wear that vest because he had just come from your home.

Hello! My name is Kay Hunt, and it is my great privilege and pleasure to serve you! I am part of the ‘class’ of 2025, newly minted public safety chaplains. We probably haven’t met - yet! So here is what all my acquaintances know to be true about me. I love Jesus. He has been my Savior, my rock, my fortress, and my hope since I was a teenager. When I read Psalm 139, where it speaks of His ‘hemming me in behind and before,’ I sense His lifelong care and protection over all of my life. He’s the best! My acquaintances also know that I’ve been married to my fun-loving husband Alan for 40 years, that we have 6 wonderful adult kids, and 8 precocious young grandchildren. They know I’m retired from a string of wonderful, but not newsworthy positions. 

What my acquaintances don’t know, but my friends do (now you know too - friend :)), is that I’ve been thinking and praying about becoming a public safety chaplain for quite a while, and that has a lot to do with what my childhood life looked like from the other side of this equation. I’ve had to work up my courage to commit, because, truly - it isn’t a pleasant position to imagine.

So why volunteer?  

I believe God would like His people to support those who are protecting others. He did. 

I believe He can use any one of His people to step in and show His love to a person in a hopeless situation. He did.

I believe there is no place so dark that His light can’t help but bring healing to it. He has.

When I was a child, my heavenly Father sent His help in the form of an officer who was more honest with me than my own family. Bless him. First responders, whom I didn't know, did and saw the hard things in my family home, so my sisters and I wouldn’t have to. Thank you for then…and thank you for now. Seasoned chaplains and those just newly minted have your backs as you serve and protect our communities.