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"I'm going crazy," cried Maria (not her real name) to Paul, a New Hope counselor late one evening. "I can't get that terrible car accident out of mind," she continued. "Oh, my chest hurts, I can hardly breathe... I think I'm going to faint, I'm so dizzy... I can't believe she died. She was just a young lady... in her 20's and I killed her. I killed her! Oh, I'm never getting behind a wheel again. I'm too scared. I'm shaking and sweating just thinking about it."

"Maria, it sounds like you're having a panic attack," replied Paul. "Take a few deep breaths and tell me what happened."

"It was just last night... It seems like it's still happening... I can't stop my car in time. She came from nowhere. I was just driving home from the hospital where I work as a nurse. Oh, I can't believe this! I help save people's lives and heal their wounds, but I killed this lady! I tried to help her. I tried..." Maria cried and cried.

"It wasn't your fault," Paul reassured her.

"She was bleeding all over. I got her blood all over me. I realized she was dying and I couldn't save her. I just sat with her until the ambulance came and told her that God loved her. Then she died."

Maria talked with Paul on the New Hope line for 40 minutes before her panic subsided and she calmed down. Paul mostly listened, offering a few supportive comments and encouraging her to follow up and share her feelings with her family and a pastor at her church. Before they hung up Paul prayed for Maria. She was so grateful to him and to New Hope for answering her desperate call at such a late hour. Now she felt like she could get some sleep and face the next day. Paul also was thankful. He had been used by God to bring much needed comfort to Maria.

You too can be used by God to comfort hurts and calm troubles. Tuesday evening May 4th New Hope is training additional volunteers to answer calls that come into the Tower of Hope 24 hours a day on (714) NEW-HOPE. At the same time we're training internet counselors to help people in our private online counseling center at www.newhopeonline.org. (Internet counselors may serve from their home computers.) For more information please call Susan Balk at (714) 971-4123.