A team of five Alabamians will be the first Southern Baptist team to respond to a call for disaster relief in the Ancient Olympia area of Greece following massive fires that swept through the area recently.
Over a 10-day period, an estimated 4,000 people in Greece saw their homes razed by the wildfires, which also charred an estimated 469,000 acres of mostly forest and farmland, according to The Associated Press.
The “massive forest fire destroyed many of the olive groves,” said Terry Henderson, national disaster relief director with the North American Mission Board. “Disaster relief teams will be assisting in rebuilding the groves so that they can replant, because that’s their livelihood.”
The team from Alabama will clear charred olive trees with chain saws and help build temporary dams to prevent floods from washing away the topsoil in the absence of the trees, Henderson said. “This will buy them some time through the rainy season until they can replant.”
Tommy Puckett, Alabama Baptist disaster relief director, said some flexibility will be necessary for the team, as it will be leading the project on the ground. But it is geared to do that, he added.
“Our Alabama guys, I’m going to brag on them, are usually the first to be called out on international projects,” Puckett said. “They do a good job.”
The five-man team is composed of Ronnie Warren, St. Clair Baptist Association; Danny Sprayberry, Cleburne Baptist Association; Billy Key, Calhoun Baptist Association; James Barham, Walker Baptist Association; and Henry Lowery, Winston Baptist Association.
The team was scheduled to leave Sept. 27 and stay in Greece for two weeks. Teams from Kentucky, California, Texas and possibly other states will follow, staying one to two weeks each until December, Henderson said.
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