GRESHAM, Ore. (BP) — New York homeowner Frank Primiano didn’t know what to think about a team of Southern Baptist college students who came into his home following Hurricane Sandy and removed wet insulation, did other dirty jobs and then thanked him for letting them do so. Thanks in part to those acts of kindness, Primiano later came to faith in Christ.
Because he was connected by Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) volunteers with a local church and someone to disciple him, he later joined the church and was baptized. Primiano then helped start a cancer ministry at his new church.
SBDR team member Randy Corn shared that story at the 2015 SBDR Round Table held Jan. 29-30 at Greater Gresham Baptist Church in Gresham, Ore. He recounted Primiano’s journey to illustrate the ongoing need for “survivor care.” Corn laid out a developing plan to help SBDR better disciple new believers who come to faith during a disaster response.
“We need to be willing to walk with these folks down the road of life, let them see our lives, share with them, invite them to church and have meals with them and develop them and disciple them,” Corn said. “That’s a question we need to ask — would you be willing to do that? If we want to reach people for Christ, we have to be radical. We have to be willing to do ‘whatever it takes.'”
More than 140 SBDR leaders discussed a variety of topics, like survivor care, during the two-day round table. The annual event brings together disaster relief leaders from the North American Mission Board and state Baptist conventions, along with volunteers, to strengthen future ministry plans and celebrate past efforts.
Fritz Wilson, NAMB’s SBDR executive director, discussed with participants efforts to prepare Southern Baptist churches to be first-responders during a time of disaster.
“We have to put an emphasis on helping churches be ready to serve their community immediately after a disaster,” Wilson said. “They are our first-responders in that situation. It looks like a policeman or a fire fighter who is first on the scene. He does what he can until the other support gets there. We need to prepare churches in that ‘ready church’ concept.”
SBDR leaders also discussed a growing youth movement within the ministry. Last summer SBDR mobilized three student teams — a Missouri, Louisiana and a multi-state team — to respond to disasters. The efforts helped introduce collegians to the work involved with disaster relief. Collegiate teams helped with post-Hurricane Sandy rebuilding efforts in New York and relief response after Kansas tornadoes, among other work.
“[These young adults] are out there,” Dwain Carter, disaster relief strategist at the Missouri Baptist Convention, said. “They’re in our states. They are willing. We just have to give them the opportunity.”
The annual roundtable event, held for the first time in the Pacific Northwest this year, also allowed state leaders to share ideas and strengthen relationships for future ministry efforts.
“This is a great event for networking people and coming together to get to know one another,” said David Acres, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Jamestown, Tenn., and the outgoing chair of the SBDR steering committee. “It’s just like we say with emergency workers. It’s good to meet them before you get out there during a disaster. Same is true with other states. It’s good to get to know them before you start working together. A lot of times when you come together like this, you share ideas. Whether it’s about chainsaw teams or feeding units, their ideas and your ideas become great ideas.”
The SBDR Round Table was preceded by three days of training and committee meetings earlier in the week. Round table also participants celebrated volunteers and state and national leaders through a series of awards.
Next year’s round table will be held Jan. 28-29, 2016, at First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, Tenn.
Those wishing to donate to SBDR relief can contact the Baptist convention in their state or visit https://donations.namb.net/dr-donations or call 1-866-407-NAMB (6262) or mail checks to NAMB, P.O. Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368-6543. Designate checks for “Disaster Relief.”
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 ministries.
Southern Baptists have 65,000 trained volunteers — including chaplains — and 1,550 mobile units for feeding, chainsaw, mud-out, command, communication, child care, 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. Learn more at http://www.baptistrelief.org.
