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Colo. snowfall greets SBDR workers


BOULDER, Colo. (BP) — The first day of fall brought snow to Estes Park, Colo., and caution to Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers who will respond to flooding there.

“The peaks are white now and there was snow as we traveled to do assessments,” Colorado Disaster Relief Director Dennis Belz said. With freezing temperatures on the way, full-scale mobile operations will only be tenable through the end of October, Belz cautioned volunteers.

“We are working in Longmont, Boulder, Loveland and Greeley,” Belz said “We hope to be opening up Estes Park and some of the other mountain areas soon. Jobs are being completed, but we have a lot of work to do, weeks of work.”

Weather was still mild, but a cold front was forecast for this week, and freezing temperatures will make mobile units vulnerable to the elements. Leaders will look to alternative ministry locations, but hope to keep clean-up and mud-out crews working as long as practically possible.

“We are going into some areas that have been closed to the Gospel,” said Eddie Blackmon, North American Mission Board SBDR coordinator on site in Longmont. “The Lord is doing some great things and is opening the doors to ministry. We need to be ready to walk through the doors.”

Volunteers from Colorado, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas Baptist Men have already responded and are serving in the four locations. Additional SBDR volunteers are on the way from Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Utah/Idaho and Southern Baptists of Texas. Additional states have committed to the response, but trained mud out teams are still needed, Blackmon said.

In addition to the Colorado floods and long-term rebuild in New York and New Jersey from Hurricane Sandy, SBDR volunteers are responding to flooding in Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas.

NAMB coordinates and manages Southern Baptist responses to major disasters through partnerships with 42 state Baptist conventions, most of which have their own state disaster relief programs.

Southern Baptists have 82,000 trained volunteers, including chaplains, and 1,550 mobile units for feeding, chainsaw, mud-out, command, communication, childcare, shower, laundry, water purification, repair/rebuild and power generation. SBDR is one of the three largest mobilizers of trained disaster relief volunteers in the United States, along with the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army.

To donate to SBDR efforts, contact the Baptist convention in your state or visit https://donations.namb.net/dr-donations. Other ways to donate are to call 1-866-407-NAMB (6262) or mail checks to NAMB, P.O. Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368-6543. Designate checks for “Disaster Relief.”
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Joe Conway writes for the North American Mission Board. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).

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  • Joe Conway