In the aftermath of the recent tornadoes in the commonwealth, there was a compassionate and organized response from Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief.
When storms and floods come into our state, KBC Disaster Relief Director Ron Crow goes to work communicating with volunteers and preparing for mobilization. The response ranges from providing hot meals for first responders to a full array of disaster recovery services from KBC Disaster Relief and other state convention DR teams.
The work is carried out mostly by volunteers who bring help, hope and healing to hurting people. When others are at their worst, our Disaster Relief volunteers are at their best.
Why do we need a strong and vibrant Disaster Relief ministry in Kentucky and across the Southern Baptist Convention? Here are five reasons.
1. To serve our neighbors: It would be difficult for the average church to purchase, store and maintain the equipment – not to mention the relationships with other non-profits and government agencies – to respond overnight to a major disaster. But we can do that through our cooperative way of ministry. A fully equipped Disaster Relief ministry, made up of members and leaders from KBC churches, allows us to respond immediately when our neighbors need us. In most cases, Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief is getting set up to minister while the local recovery effort is still taking place.
2. To mobilize local churches: Disaster Relief is not a parachurch ministry, but instead a ministry of churches by churches to help churches serve our neighbors in the aftermath of natural disasters. DR volunteers are members of Southern Baptist churches who represent Jesus and their local church when they are out on assignment. Because of their skilled training, organizational structure and professional compassionate approach, they can minister in ways that may not be open to a singular church. Disaster Relief doesn’t replace the ministry of a local church — it extends it.
3. To direct our resources: Disaster Relief work is expensive, and Kentucky Baptists always give generously when a disaster takes place. In most cases it costs thousands of dollars per day to serve in a storm-impacted area. Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief provides free services to homeowners because of the faithful giving of our churches, and they carry out their work with financial accountability. Gifts to Disaster Relief are used for the immediate disaster, rebuilding efforts and future disaster assignments.
4. To evangelize our communities: In a climate where many people are becoming further removed from a personal connection to a local church, Disaster Relief is one more way for us to connect with lost people and share the love of Jesus firsthand. It is hard to argue with the kindness and compassion of a Disaster Relief volunteer standing in your front yard and offering to clean the mud out of your living room or put a tarp on your roof protecting your belongings from rain. The old saying is proven true in DR work: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
5. To empower gifted leaders: Kentucky Baptist churches are filled with men and women who not only faithfully serve Jesus in their local church but also have capacity to do more. Many of those who serve in DR are trained and experienced leaders who have the benefit of free time and the ability to be away from home and other responsibilities for a week or more at a time. DR provides these gifted men and women an avenue to use their lives for the glory of God and the good of others.
At the end of the day, Disaster Relief work is about changed lives. Following the recent flooding in eastern Kentucky, there was an elderly man whose basement flooded, and he was unable to do the cleanup on his own. He had an adult daughter who lived in another county who also was unable to help him. He was not a believer, but she was, and she prayed that God would send someone not only to help, but also to share Jesus with him. Guess who knocked on his door? Those gold-shirt wearing Disaster Relief volunteers. They cleaned out his basement, bought him a new washer and dryer and shared the Gospel with him. That is the work of Disaster Relief.
We need more of that kind of ministry in our state and throughout the Southern Baptist Convention.
This article originally appeared in Kentucky Today.
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