By Carrie Brown McWhorter
The Alabama Baptist
Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief (ABDR) officially wrapped up its deployment in Southeast Alabama on Nov. 15, but more work remains in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
“Teams have faithfully served almost 1,000 families,” said John Thomas, associational mission strategist (AMS) for Southeast Alabama Baptist Association, in a Facebook update. “We know all of the work is not finished, … but many thanks to those women and men that gave of their time and talents to minister in the name of Jesus.”
Mark Wakefield, disaster relief strategist for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said more job requests came in than anyone anticipated and volunteers put in several thousand hours to help. Teams came from various parts of the state, as well as from the Carolinas, to assist in the area around Dothan, which was hit hard by Hurricane Michael’s landfall on Oct. 10.
“Teams from across the state have really stepped up and helped a lot of folks,” Wakefield said.
Expressions of thanks
At least 10 professions of faith were recorded during the response, Wakefield said.
Chainsaw, heavy equipment, feeding, chaplaincy, shower and administrative teams used Ridgecrest Baptist, Dothan, as a command center, and Thomas expressed his appreciation to the church for use of their facilities, calling it “the Church in action.”
Wakefield said work remains in the Dothan area, primarily in helping people clean up their yards. Local churches and associations in Southeast Alabama will continue to respond as they can, he said.
ABDR volunteers also have been serving in Florida since Michael’s high winds and heavy rains devastated several coastal communities. Most were serving with mass feeding units run by the American Red Cross or Salvation Army, but those have wrapped up their work, Wakefield said. Some ABDR volunteers were helping with chainsaw and chaplaincy work in Florida, and Wakefield expects more teams will have opportunities to go to Florida now that the Alabama work has finished.
“We are working now to determine how we can best help in the Panhandle,” Wakefield said. “We are planning to have some heavy equipment or chainsaw teams in Florida soon. Our plan is to work in Florida as soon as we can work out the logistics of places to stay and jobs to do.”
Wakefield said he also has contacted California Southern Baptist Disaster Relief about the possibility of sending chaplains to respond to the recovery following massive wildfires in the northern part of the state. Strict regulations on cleanup work in California make it difficult for volunteers to provide services, Wakefield said.
“We have offered to help if they’re allowed to accept that,” he said.
A collegiate disaster relief team from Jacksonville State University led by Baptist Campus Ministries minister Gary Brittain served in North Carolina during Thanksgiving week, Wakefield said.
“It’s been a busy fall,” he said. “But our volunteers have really stepped up.”
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