When Don Bezeau was sawing up downed trees in Harvest following the April 27 tornado outbreak, he met a skeptical resident. The man questioned Bezeau about a logo on a disaster relief vehicle.
“He said, ‘Southern Baptists from Michigan?’” Bezeau quoted.
He is a Southern Baptist who helped lead a 17-member disaster relief team from the Baptist State Convention of Michigan (BSCM). Most team members helped by cutting fallen trees and hauling logs and branches to the street for grateful homeowners.
The Michigan Baptists drove 600 miles to work in north Alabama because their convention is in the fourth year of a five-year partnership with the Alabama Baptist State Convention.
Bezeau, a member of Frenchtown Missionary Baptist Church, Monroe, Mich., said even before the destruction was over in Alabama, he got a call to be on standby.
Ironically some members of the chain saw crew were trained by Alabama Baptists conducting classes in Michigan.
“The gentlemen who came up to train us, they were fantastic,” Bezeau said.
Mickey Nardin, team chaplain and interim pastor of Harvest Baptist Church, Shelby Township, Mich., said the convention in his home state is small compared to Alabama’s so Michigan churches are more often on the receiving end of the partnership.
But Nardin said the terrible destruction created a need in Alabama and “we are glad to be able to serve.”
BSCM Executive Director Bobby Gilstrap said the idea of convention partnership reflects the biblical principle of “coming alongside” to help a brother or sister.
Usually that has meant the stronger conventions helping newer emerging ones, he said.
While the Michigan convention, with its 282 churches, has sent volunteers to Alabama before, the partnership cannot be equitable, Gilstrap said.
Yet in the wake of Alabama’s storms, “our people can say, ‘Here is something Alabama needs that we can do,’” he said.
It is like a family member pitching in to help another in a crisis, Gilstrap said.
Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), told him in an online interview that Michigan Baptists’ help in Alabama represents true partnership.
“It’s a two-way street, not a one-way street,” Lance said.
Reggie Quimby, director of the SBOM’s office of global missions, agreed.
“Partnership is about building relationships to serve Christ together. It does not matter … the size of the convention desiring to participate but their desire to serve others in Jesus’ name,” he said. “When the tornadoes came through Alabama on April 27, our brothers in Michigan called to say they were ready to come to Alabama to help. Through these years of partnership, both states have been blessed with Alabama teams going to Michigan and Michigan teams coming to Alabama to make a difference.”
The impact of the disaster relief team was big. For instance, Emily Spencer, of Harvest, said what workers accomplished May 6 at her home was a huge relief.
While she had no house damage, the trees littering Spencer’s yard were a hazard to her sons, ages 11 and 13, who play outdoors.
“This is a great service, a great mission y’all have,” she said.
The team also had an impact on Christian fellowship. Dian Brooks of Bethel Baptist Church, Niles, Mich., a veteran disaster relief volunteer like most members of the team, said she loved what she felt.
Brooks said the team experienced fellowship across the board while they stayed at Mount Zion Baptist Church, Huntsville. The Michigan and Alabama Baptists teased each other.
“I made breakfast for volunteers the first day, and they wanted to know where the grits were,” she said.
Bezeau, talking over the buzz of chain saws in Spencer’s yard, said it is good that one convention can support another.
“It’s fantastic you can depend on each other,” he said.
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