Brooke Mannion/Florida Baptist Convention

MARIANNA, Fla. – When Boyd Evans and his wife, Jenny, began looking for a home close to his new role as associational mission strategist for the Chipola Baptist Association in the Florida Panhandle, they thought it felt like an episode of one of their favorite shows – “House Hunters” on HGTV.

PENSACOLA, Fla. – After incurring millions of dollars in damages to nearly every facility on the church property as a result of Hurricane Sally’s landfall in 2020, East Brent Baptist Church moved back into its worship center in 2022, only to experience tremendous water damage totaling more than $1.3 million just two years later.

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – When Virgil Tillman, pastor emeritus at Springfield Baptist Church in Panama City, awoke in the Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital in Jacksonville, the last thing he remembered was carrying a bucket of ice to his daughter’s house. As Tillman approached the porch, he slipped and fell on the concrete, leaving him unconscious, with a broken nose, concussion and brain bleed. He required a repair of the C1 and C2 vertebrae, a steel plate inserted into the base of his skull and a fusion of C6 and C7 spinal segment. His recovery also required a tracheostomy that has not been able to be removed nearly two years later.

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – Like many churches in the path of Hurricane Milton, Tri-City Baptist Church in Punta Gorda was hit hard. On Friday, Oct. 11, the morning after the storm, volunteers from the church began dry-out efforts from storm flooding. By Sunday, they were feeling tired and weary.