• Huffman Baptist Church in Birmingham Baptist Association has scheduled Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief Training Aug. 26–27 for men and women. This training is not limited to Alabama disasters, so please consider this opportunity if you are willing to be deployed at the call of any natural disaster nationwide requiring immediate relief efforts, church officials explained.
Registration deadline is Aug. 23. Go to www.sbdr.org and click on the training tab. For questions contact John Cook, BBA disaster relief coordinator, at johnc@bbaonline.org and 205-796-4715; or John Hayes, District 11 disaster relief coordinator, at jghayes@bellsouth.net and 205-675-6557.
Huffman Baptist Church is located at 700 Huffman Road, Birmingham, AL 35215.
• First Baptist Church, Fultondale, and Gardendale Church of the Nazarene co-hosted the “We Survived” block party July 30 from 5–8 p.m. in the First, Fultondale, parking lot.
Hamburgers and hot dogs were served while live music and children’s activities kept the block party exciting. There was a gift card giveaway every 30 minutes and a grand prize gift card giveaway at 8 p.m.
The block party was held as a way to minister to the people that still deal with the aftermath of the tornado — even today — in the Fultondale and Gardendale area.
• The Smith family survived the tornado that passed through the area but their home received severe damage. The Sheetrock on the ceiling needed replacing, windows were blown out, water damaged much of the home’s flooring and the deck was destroyed. The home also received destruction invisible to the eye — a gas leak.
Randy Donaldson, member of Canaan Baptist Church, Bessemer, has spent the last 34 years working for Alagasco and was sent to check on the gas leak at the Smith home.
After having the leak fixed and saying goodbye, Donaldson could not seem to get the family and their situation out of his head.
A few weeks later, Bessemer Baptist Association church had a lead on a house in Concord where they planned to go assist in rebuilding after the storm. On the way to check out the site, Donaldson asked the driver, “Where are we headed?”
“Smith road,” the driver said.
“Their names wouldn’t happen to be Smith would it?” Donaldson asked.
“Yeah, you know them?” the driver responded.
“It was just a powerful statement of how God works,” Donaldson explained later.
A team of 25 Canaan members worked on the Smiths’ home July 25–29 repairing the ceiling, replacing flooring, installing windows and rebuilding the deck.
Canaan Baptist also ministered to the Pleasant Grove community with a “Bouncing Back Block Party” held at Pleasant Grove Middle School on July 30.
From 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m., 40 Canaan volunteers grilled hotdogs, ran game booths and kept the line moving for kids anxiously awaiting a tiger to be painted on their cheek.
Canaan Baptist also gave away four children’s bikes, school supplies, Bibles and toys.
More than 130 people attended the block party and nine people — both children and adults — made a decision to follow Christ after Canaan Pastor Morgan Bailey shared the gospel message.
Russ Price, Canaan’s children’s minister, said the thing that will stick with him the most are the smiles he saw that day.
• For more information on disaster relief volunteer opportunites, a disaster relief training schedule, resources for your family and church and a way to donate to the Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief Effort, visit www.sbdr.org.
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