What happens when disaster strikes, power lines go down and cell phone towers topple?
Alabama Baptists are there with their ham radios.
Jay Isbell, assistant coordinator for Alabama Baptist disaster relief, said ham radio — or amateur radio — operators are valuable first responders in times of disaster and the state’s ham radio network is growing and leading the way with innovation.
In the last five years, the number of ham radio operators working with the state ministry has grown from 30 to 200, Isbell said.
He noted sales of ham radios slowed with the rise of cell phones, but following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, their popularity soared. The affordability and versatility of ham radios have also added to their popularity. One can begin a radio hobby for less than $150 for equipment and license, Isbell said.
In addition to the growth in radio operators, he said Alabama has been instrumental in placing repeaters, devices that relay radio signals, along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Tallahassee, Fla. Placing these repeaters in central areas and equipping them to survive hurricanes will speed up the restoration of communication across the coastline when storms knock out power and cell towers, Isbell explained.
“Basically what we have found in disasters, especially in the area-wide stuff like a hurricane, you can’t communicate any other way than ham radio,” he said. “We encourage churches to consider getting involved and equipped.”
St. Clair Baptist Association is aiming to get more Alabama Baptists ready as soon as possible.
The association will host a ham radio operation school, open to anyone who would like to volunteer for disaster relief, July 18–19 at Camp Sonshine in Pell City.
But using radio as a ministry is nothing new for Alabama Baptists.
Blount Baptist Association’s partnership with Oneonta’s radio station WCRL dates to back to at least the early 1960s.
Danny Gunter, pastor of Holly Springs Baptist Church, Springville, serves on the committee to oversee the association’s radio program. He said the program has “always served a good purpose,” providing church for those who are unable to attend.
Every church in the association helps fund and host the 7:30 a.m. Sunday program. And each has the freedom to use the 30 minutes as it wishes. Some churches fill the time slot with live music; others combine music and preaching. Gunter said the ministry transforms the radio station into a worship space each week and participants often forget where they are.
“There have been several Sundays when the preaching extended well after we were off the air, and we just continued until God was through speaking,” he said.
For five years, Gary Farley, director of missions for Pickens Baptist Association, has worked with Mike Hall, local radio station manager and pastor of New Salem Baptist Church, Reform, to air a weekly Sunday School lesson.
The program airs at 8 p.m. Thursdays and 11 a.m. Sundays on radio stations WALN and WCSO. The lesson is a valuable resource to Sunday School teachers in the listening area as well as shut-ins, Farley said.
On the show, he uses question-and-answer sessions with local pastors to expound on the Sunday School material. Farley said the program has generated tremendous positive feedback.
They once received a call from a woman who heard the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday lesson while passing through the area. “She called from Houston to say how much the lesson on forgiveness meant to her after living with years of guilt after an abortion,” he said.
For more information about St. Clair Association’s ham radio school, call 205-594-5173.
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