For the past year, The Alabama Baptist has taken readers around the state to visit each association and learn more about the impact of the deadly storms of April 2011.
The final destination in the yearlong journey is the Southern Baptist Convention’s District 12 region of the state. It includes Autauga, Chilton, Coosa, Elmore, Lowndes and Montgomery counties.
The event that precipitated this journey was April 27, 2011, when more than 60 cyclones traversed Alabama, leaving an imprint on two-thirds of the state and claiming approximately 272 lives.
Autauga Association
A deadly tornado struck Autauga County on April 15, 2011, taking three lives and damaging approximately 75 homes. The tornado also hit Boone’s Chapel Baptist Church, Prattville.
Chaplains and chain saw teams from Autauga, Montgomery, Elmore and Chilton associations responded.
Autauga Association helped people find another place to live or purchase modular homes.
In addition, various congregations worked on their own to help storm victims recover. For example, East Memorial Baptist Church, Prattville, helped to build a home for a family.
“Our churches were very involved,” said Bill Morgan, director of missions (DOM) for Autauga Baptist Association.
The churches stepped up again to assist people affected by the storms of April 27, 2011.
First Baptist Church, Prattville, served as a collection site for supplies that were sent to north Alabama.
“We (also) sent numerous teams to help” in affected areas, Morgan said.
Volunteers from Autauga Association worked in Pratt City, Rainsville, Tuscaloosa, Pleasant Grove, Hackleburg and other places. They served in disaster relief child care, chaplaincy, chain saw and food service.
Members from First, Prattville, volunteered for rebuild efforts in Pleasant Grove, and individuals from other churches made trips to assist as well.
In Autauga Association, Boone’s Chapel Baptist is now under construction, Morgan said.
The new facility will feature a “safe room” able to accommodate more than 100 people, he added.
More than a year after the tragedy, “we’re still doing case management to see if there are any unmet needs,” Morgan said. This effort is coordinated through the Autauga Long Term Recovery Committee, of which Morgan is chairman. Autauga Association assists through the committee.
Morgan said opportunities remain to reach people who are open to the gospel message.
Evangelistic visits and events are needed, as well as follow-up to minister to those still hurting.
This season of assisting during a crisis has “been a spiritual renewal for our folks who have gone to help,” Morgan said. It has increased awareness that life is not about things but about God.
Central Association
There was no significant damage in Central Baptist Association resulting from the April 27, 2011, storm system.
However, a tornado 12 days prior greatly affected Equality in Coosa County, said DOM Wayne Henderson.
The association — which has churches in Coosa, Tallapoosa, Talladega and Clay counties — provided breakfast and lunch for people in need, utility workers and others. Henderson said Bethesda Baptist Church, Equality, opened its facilities to serve breakfast and a community group helped cook.
Ray Baker, Bethesda’s pastor, assisted in coordinating cleanup and repair efforts in the Equality area.
After the April 27 cyclones, Rockford Baptist Church became a collection site for supplies to send to areas of need. “The youth in the church were very active in that,” Henderson said.
In addition, Weogufka Second Baptist Church formed a partnership with Emmanuel Baptist Church, Hackleburg, in Marion Baptist Association, Henderson said.
Hackleburg was severely damaged by the storms, and Emmanuel Baptist is being rebuilt.
Weogufka Second Baptist designated this year’s Vacation Bible School offering to help Emmanuel Baptist.
Henderson believes it is likely that all churches of Central Association in some way assisted people affected by the storms. Some helped through direct ministry and service while others donated funds or items.
This time of crisis, though painful and tragic, allowed individuals who are without Jesus Christ to see that people in churches really do love and care about them and their needs, Henderson said.
“It has given us great opportunity to do that,” he noted.
Chilton Association
“We had minimal damage here,” said Larry Felkins, DOM for Chilton Baptist Association. “It kind of skirted around us” on April 27, 2011.
Though Chilton essentially escaped harm that day, Felkins was in a different part of the state at the time and saw destruction happening firsthand.
His father — Ray Felkins, a former pastor and former DOM for Bethel and Hale associations — had died the previous day. Felkins was at his parents’ home in Tuscaloosa and watched the tornado move along 15th Street.
“We could see the tornado. We could hear it. You could see in the air the debris,” Felkins said.
In the aftermath of the cyclone that affected so much of the state, Chilton’s disaster relief volunteers responded by working in Trussville, Bessemer, Oak Grove and Tuscaloosa, Felkins said.
Liberty Hill Baptist Church, Clanton, became a drop-off location for supplies needed in damaged areas, Felkins said. A number of churches in the association contributed.
Also volunteers from Chilton Association went to Crossroad Baptist Church, Hueytown, in Mud Creek Baptist Association to deliver supplies.
Recently a group from Chilton Association worked in Phil Campbell, helping to rebuild Mountain View Baptist Church in Franklin Association.
In January 2012, a tornado swept through Chilton, causing damage in Maplesville, Mount Pleasant and Lomax. Then a few weeks later, another hit Verbena, Felkins said.
Chilton Association’s disaster relief volunteers responded after both storms. Also volunteers from Selma Association worked in Maplesville and Clanton.
Maplesville Baptist Church and Liberty Hill Baptist prepared meals for affected individuals and volunteers. In addition Liberty Hill Baptist assisted people with putting tarps on roofs.
Verbena Baptist Church ministered in its community in a variety of ways, Felkins said. Other churches also helped people recover.
Because of Chilton’s rural environment, many people have chain saws and tractors available. So when a disaster strikes, “people get out and go to work,” Felkins said.
“We have equipment that people in urban areas don’t have.”
In many cases residents are able to take care of their own situation and help others too.
Neighbors respond and the disaster relief team responds, Felkins said. “We just do it ourselves.”
Plus “the local church doesn’t wait for a call,” he said. “They just get it done.”
Felkins said it was encouraging to see people assist friends, neighbors and people they did not know. “Folks just showed up and took care of it.”
After the disasters, the association provided some financial assistance to churches to aid people, Felkins said.
“I’m sure some of our churches did the same kind of thing.”
Elmore Association
When Jim Jackson, DOM for Elmore Baptist Association, was asked to describe the situation in his county following the deadly tornadoes of April 2011, the word he used was “shock.”
The path of the storms, Jackson explained, went through the middle part of the county, leaving much devastation.
Six people died, according to news reports.
Mount Hebron East Baptist Church, Eclectic, also suffered great damage.
Jackson said that in the 21 years he has been in the county Elmore has never been hit as hard as it was April 27, 2011.
The association’s disaster relief teams — which are based at First Baptist Church, Tallassee; First Baptist Church, Wetumpka and Thelma Baptist Church, Wetumpka — went to areas of greater destruction, such as Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Jackson said.
Locally, however, individuals from the community and volunteers from churches and organizations worked in Elmore County to help affected people.
“So many people came in as volunteers,” Jackson said.
To meet needs of people affected by the storms, the association has worked through a community organization to use donated funds, Jackson said. More than a year removed from the storms, “there are still needs that crop up; but (they’ve) become less and less.”
Current efforts are focused on rebuilding Mount Hebron East, which met at Prospect Baptist Church, Eclectic, and at a fire department before receiving a mobile chapel from the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
First Baptist Church, Montgomery, in Montgomery Baptist Association has made a strong commitment to Mount Hebron East, as did First Baptist Church, Lloyd, Fla., Jackson said. The response of Christians during this time met many needs and touched many lives. As a result, some individuals asked Jesus Christ to be their Savior and others came to be involved in churches. Jackson added there is a greater awareness of who Baptists are and what they do.
“I want the churches of our association to be seen as the presence of Christ,” he said.
It is also his desire that the association and local agencies — working through Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster — can increase their readiness for the next disaster.
“We weren’t as prepared as we needed to be,” Jackson said.
As for ministering to people, he said there is still work for Christians to do. Emotional needs not related to an actual storm continue to exist in the community, waiting to be addressed.
“There are disasters behind every front door,” Jackson said, referring to spiritual and emotional storms in life. “(We need to) find ways as churches to respond to disasters in families and lives.”
Montgomery Association
Disaster relief volunteers from Montgomery Baptist Association — which includes Montgomery and eastern Lowndes counties — responded quickly to areas of need.
DOM Ken May said the disaster relief team went to Tuscaloosa and the feeding unit to Sand Mountain.
May also met with pastors of Bessemer Baptist Association to offer assistance through their churches. He said Montgomery Association aided one church in financially helping a family.
At First Baptist Church, Montgomery, needed supplies were collected. Teams of volunteers delivered the items to impacted areas.
In addition, churches reached out on their own to minister to individuals affected by the storms.
In January 2012 the association’s disaster relief team responded as well after a deadly tornado struck in Center Point and Trussville, he said.
May emphasized the importance of receiving training now and earning the proper credentials in order to enter a disaster area the next time a crisis occurs. “Just lending a hand is a big thing,” May said.
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