C.J. Andrews, associate pastor of Lineville Baptist Church, is all too familiar with the destructive fury of the April 27 tornadoes. His father and several other family members had homes destroyed or badly damaged by the storms in Fairview in Cullman County.
The day after the storms hit, Andrews asked some men from the Carey Baptist Association church if they would accompany him to Fairview to assess the damage.
“Before we even got back (from the assessments) that afternoon, they were already putting plans together to take a larger group up the next day,” he recalled.
About 45 volunteers, many from Lineville Baptist, assembled to aid First Baptist Church, Fairview, Andrews’ home
church.
Twenty of the volunteers spent most of the day cutting downed trees and limbs and clearing debris from Andrews’ family members’ yards. Others helped clean up a nearby park so that the community’s summer baseball program could start on time.
According to Andrews, Carey Association does not have an organized disaster relief team. He said while not having that structure somewhat limits what groups can do without the Southern Baptist disaster relief “yellow hats and the orange vests,” the association is quick to unite and send small groups out to help in places that need it.
Still Andrews was surprised and touched by the large showing of people who banded together to help his family members after the storms.
“I was expecting 10 or 15 people,” he said, adding, “It was just an amazing day, an emotional day.”
The next weekend, another crew from Lineville Baptist traveled to Fairview to do more work. Andrews said the experience built a “great relationship” between the church family he grew up with and the church family he currently serves.
As for him, God revealed a bigger picture of the Church in this tragic situation.
“It’s not about First Baptist, Fairview, or [Lineville Baptist]; it’s the community of God helping where we can,” Andrews said. (TAB)
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