One year to the day after Hurricane Ivan swept through Alabama, several newly trained Alabama Baptist disaster relief teams were hard at work helping clean up Mississippi and Louisiana.
One of those teams was from Escambia Baptist Association, an area hit hard by Ivan. Director of Missions Pat Andrews noted that teams from 14 states came to work in Escambia County last fall, and “as a result of that, we formed our own chain saw/cleanup and recovery team, and we’re here now in Biloxi helping other people around this community.”
That type of response doesn’t surprise Tommy Puckett, disaster relief coordinator for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. According to Puckett, at least nine associations that didn’t have disaster relief teams a year ago have one today — and they’ve all been called into service since Hurricane Katrina struck.
“Catastrophic disasters bring out the best in Alabama Baptists — praying, responding and giving — but with that comes an increased challenge for many interested people to be trained in order that they too may respond to the needs of those who are hurting,” he said.
Most of that training takes place in the spring, a time when hurricanes aren’t a threat and personnel and equipment are more readily available, Puckett explained.
But because of the extreme need, he added, training strategies are being worked on presently and will soon be advertised. In addition, some associational disaster relief training has taken place since Hurricane Katrina struck, enabling more volunteers to serve.
In Shelby Baptist Association, for example, more than 400 people attended a State Board of Missions training and certification event Sept. 8. In north Alabama’s District 1, around 300 volunteers have been trained in basic Southern Baptist disaster relief in three hurriedly assembled sessions in the last few weeks, said district disaster relief coordinator Ross Covington. Some took extended training so they could serve on a chain saw team or shower crew. A fourth session is also being planned for the Huntsville area within the next few weeks.
Training is important, Covington said, for two main reasons — safety and effectiveness. “Chain saws are dangerous, even for people who use them to make a living. If you’re not trained in the safety aspects, it’s very easy to hurt yourself,” he said. “Also, when you’re trained to do disaster relief, you’re able to do it much more effectively.” That fact, Covington said, applies to all areas of disaster relief.
While he is grateful for the newly trained volunteers, Covington hopes Alabama Baptists remember the strong desire to serve that they feel now and go through the full training when it’s offered in 2006.
“Volunteers can be much more effective if they can take the training when it’s offered, not during the disaster but prior to the disaster, so they’ll be ready to go rather than having to do all the training on the spur of the moment,” he said.
“We want to respond to disasters in an effective way so we can truly represent Jesus Christ as we go and minister to meet the needs of people.”
For more information on disaster relief training, contact Tommy Puckett at 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 229, or e-mail him at tpuckett@alsbom.org.
Relief teams formed after Ivan mobilize for Katrina aid
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