OTTER CREEK, Fla. – When there’s not a lot you can do, you do what you can.
Category 4 Hurricane Helene lashed out with high winds and storm surge in Otter Creek, a small community located about 20 miles east of Cedar Key, leaving widespread damage and power outages in its wake.
Tim Campbell, pastor of Otter Creek Baptist Church, saw the need in the community where he and his wife, Dawn Michelle, live out their call to serve others.
With so many in the area without power, the church began offering free meals on Friday. His wife, Dawn Michelle, spearheaded the effort in the church kitchen.
“We had gas stoves, and we had power and we just started cooking. We saw the need and just jumped in. It’s a simple thing that you can do to love on people when you can’t do much else,” Campbell said.
Those seeking food could take their meals to go or enjoy a meal as they recuperated inside the air-conditioned fellowship center. Once water returned to the church, they also began offering showers to people.
Because everyone passes Otter Creek Baptist on their drive to Cedar Key, another community hit hard by Hurricane Helene, the church will once again serve as a drop-off point for supplies and transport them to where they need to go.
Not all members could make it to the church for Sunday’s worship service or to help with meals, but Campbell reminded them to help where they were.
“Look around you to see how you can answer the call to serve others. It may be shoveling mud out of someone’s house, or it may be passing out a bottle of cold water, or it may be a simple hug and encouraging one another.”
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CEDAR KEY, Fla. – Debris piled high along community roads, broken and splintered fragments of homes floating in waterways, shattered windows … and shattered lives.
After Hurricane Helene roared into Cedar Key Sept. 26, leaving devastation in its wake, community residents needed encouragement. They needed hope. They needed help.
And they found all three in ample supply at First Baptist Church in Cedar Key. Because Hurricane Helene was the third hurricane to hit Cedar Key in the past 13 months, the church has established a reputation as the go-to spot for residents of this tiny island seeking help, hot meals, supplies and some much-needed hope after a hurricane.
With its 10- to 12-foot water surges destroying many homes and businesses on the island last week, Helene is considered one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit the island in the past 100 years.
That makes the relief efforts being coordinated by Pastor Billy
Splintered fragments float in Cedar Key waterways, a heartbreaking reminder of Hurricane Helene’s ferocious impact on the small community.
Dalton and his team of church members and other volunteers all the more important and meaningful.
‘Encourage people and point them to Christ’
The church has been feeding people since Friday night, thanks to ready-to-eat meals provided by other churches, Florida Baptist Disaster Relief and other relief organizations. The church fed about 600 people on Sunday, but Dalton expects that number to double or even triple this week as many residents were allowed to return to the island on Monday to assess damages to homes and businesses.
A peek into a shattered window reveals the devastation and shattered lives left behind after Hurricane Helene unleashed its fury in Cedar Key just days ago.
In addition to hot meals served three times a day, the church is also the distribution site for bottled water, ice, cleaning supplies, buckets and more. And Dalton has kept the public notified about mealtimes, the availability of supplies, requests for supplies, the curfew and other pertinent details from city officials via frequent videos posted to the church’s Facebook page.
“With our central location, my job has been the coordinating and organizing of these things and getting the information out there to people,” he said. “Facebook is a huge thing right now.”
First Baptist did this same operation just over a year ago after Hurricane Idalia, so after discussions with the city council prior to Helene, the church agreed to serve in the same capacity.
Because the church and parsonage are on a hill and are some 20 feet above sea level, Dalton and his family boarded up their windows and rode out the hurricane at home with no issues. After waiting for the water to recede Friday morning, they began cleaning up the church grounds, preparing it to become the huge distribution center that it was last year.
“We’re really well known in the community especially after doing this last year,” he said. “So people come and we love on them, pray with them and give them food, cold drinks or hot coffee – whatever we can do to encourage people and ultimately point them to Christ.”
Having endured three hurricanes in such a short time has taken its toll on people, leaving many residents feeling hopeless and discouraged, Dalton said.
“Our focus as a church is to really encourage them and point them to Christ as the only hope. With our attitude and the things that we say, we are trying to remind people that this was not a surprise to God. These things happen, and this is part of being on this earth. God has put us here to come alongside you and help you.
“We are thankful that God has allowed us to serve our community in this way. We don’t have to; we get to.”
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PERRY, Fla, — Florida Baptist Disaster Relief launched its mass feeding operations at First Baptist Church in Perry on Saturday, Sept. 28, following Category 4 Hurricane Helene’s destructive path in Florida’s Big Bend on Thursday, Sept. 26.
Already thousands of meals have been served to residents who have become hurricane-weary after three hurricanes in 13 months in the region.
For the third time in those 13 months, First Baptist Church in Perry is the designated FBDR command center for relief operations. In addition to coordinating the mass feeding operation, disaster relief leaders at the command center help coordinate damage assessment, clean-up and recovery and spiritual care and witness as FBDR volunteers help community residents in the storm’s aftermath.
Steven Ruff, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Perry, admits the back-to-back-to-back hurricanes are taking a toll on the community.
“Honestly, I’m hearing on one hand how much more can one community take with three hurricanes in 13 months, along with a major plant closure during that same time? Everyone is shellshocked,” said Ruff.
With Hurricane Helene’s assault on the community, the pastor reported that his church “suffered a few water leaks, sustained metal roof damage on the sanctuary and lost a portion of the roof on the student center.”
Still, the church is focused not on itself but on its community.
“Our church hears the need to serve our local community taught and preached regularly by me,” said Ruff. “Opening up our campus is a natural extension and application of that teaching.”
In August 2023, when Hurricane Idalia roared through Perry, damage was widespread throughout the community. Ruff, who also serves as a chaplain for FBDR, said, “Our people were served by disaster relief volunteers in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, and it made a deep impact. So, each time we’re asked to serve, they remember the real-life impact of disaster relief on them, their families and community.”
Reeling from a hurricane’s fury unleashed in their community once again, members of First Baptist Church in Perry remain resolute in their commitment to love their neighbors.
“Our people are reaching out to help their neighbors and praising the Lord in the good times and the bad times,” Ruff said.
For updates on FBDR response, go to facebook.com/FLBaptistDR and https://flbaptist.org/dr-current-response.
David Moore and Margaret Colson reporting from Florida.
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South Carolina Baptists affected
Several entities affiliated with South Carolina Baptists sustained storm damage, including Connie Maxwell Children’s Homes, North Greenville University, Anderson University and the Camp McCall campground. No injuries have been reported at any campus.
For updates, go to facebook.com/scbaptist
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Liberty University mobilizes disaster relief teams, needed supplies in wake of Hurricane Helene
By Liberty University staff
Lynchburg, Va. – In response to the recent devastation left by Hurricane Helene, Liberty University is working to mobilize disaster relief teams and send much-needed supplies to heavily impacted areas.
The teams will consist of Liberty students and advisers who will partner with Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Blessing.
“At Liberty University, we are mourning with those who mourn, and we are praying for those who have been devastated by Hurricane Helene. It is in times of crisis that we must put our faith into service,” said Liberty Chancellor Jonathan Falwell. “Our students are stepping up to assist with disaster relief, clean-up, and providing hope and encouragement through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our LU Send program is proactively mobilizing our students to serve and minister as true Champions for Christ.”
These trips, sponsored by the LU Serve Now program, will each include 10 students and two trip leaders. Each trip will prioritize assisting homeowners with debris clean up, mud outs, and roof tarping, as well as meeting spiritual and emotional needs. Volunteers will also remain ready to meet any other need that may present itself in the coming days.
“As followers of Christ, we are called to serve one another with the same compassion and love that Christ has shown us. This is where Liberty University students can be the hands and feet of Jesus in these locations,” said Liberty President Dondi E. Costin. “This is more than just disaster relief—it’s the opportunity to demonstrate Christ’s love in our actions and make a lasting impact in these communities.”
Liberty’s three teams will travel to Boone, N.C., (Oct. 13-19); Valdosta, Ga., (Oct. 20-26); and Perry, Fla., (Oct. 20-26). Before Liberty’s trip to Georgia, the university is sending a trailer with 22 pallets of bottled water to Anchor Faith Church, where it will be distributed to those in the surrounding community.
“We are devastated by the loss of life and destruction that numerous communities have experienced from Hurricane Helene,” Senior Director of LU Serve Chad Nelson said. “So many people have been impacted, both near and far. We pray for these communities and the volunteers and emergency personnel who are responding.”
The university has set up a dedicated giving portal for Hurricane Helene. All funds raised will go entirely toward relief efforts, whether for much-needed supplies or mobilizing disaster response teams.
Florida articles originally appeared at flbaptist.org.
