By Carrie Brown McWhorter
Content Editor, The Alabama Baptist
The Rehobeth community near Equality in Coosa County is like many areas of Alabama — rural, wooded and populated by neighbors who are also family.
On Jan. 12, many of those families were returning home after picking up their children from school when the weather took a turn and so did their lives.
Eight homes in Rehobeth, six belonging to members of the Brown family, were in the path of the powerful EF3 tornado that carved an 82-mile track through five counties in Alabama that day.
Tracy Brown took cover in a hallway with her grandson and others as the storm blew through, scattering her family’s belongings throughout the woods behind her house.
After the storm passed, she was trying to gather what she could from inside her home when her dog’s insistent barking drew her outside. Moments later, what was left of her roof collapsed.
As Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers from Calhoun and Cleburne associations worked in her yard Jan. 20, cutting trees and clearing debris, Tracy told me and other volunteers the story of Black Dog — one more sign, she said, that though they had lost almost all their material possessions, God had not abandoned them.
Other family members told me the same thing — they were praising the Lord because despite the devastation, everyone in Rehobeth had survived.
Many of us here at TAB are trained in various areas of Disaster Relief, so when the callout came for Cleburne Association’s team, I was grateful for the opportunity to serve. But honestly, I felt a bit useless surrounded by so much loss.
Toni Long, the ABDR white hat leader in charge, reassured me the time spent listening was valuable. Sometimes it’s the best thing we can do, she said.
She’s right. Talking helps us process traumatic events, to find comfort and support when our hearts are broken.
Because you give and volunteers go, survivors know they are not forgotten. They are heard, and they are loved.
Upcoming trainings
Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief has several training opportunities coming up in March and April. Go to sbdr.org to see the full list of events happening around the state.
The following trainings are scheduled for the Disaster Relief Center in Prattville:
March 18: Admin (managing volunteers in database and deployment information)
March 25: Communications (using amateur radio to assist in crisis)
March 25: Shower and Laundry (setup and operation of shower and laundry units)
March 31: Cleanup and Recovery (helping in a variety of situations)
March 31–April 1: Chainsaw (safe operation and cleanup)
April 13–15: Chaplaincy (crisis intervention and ministry to persons in crisis)
April 22: Mass Feeding (operation of mass feeding kitchen)
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