The Heart of Alabama Baptists

The Heart of Alabama Baptists

Alabama Baptists are known for a lot of things — their size, their evangelistic zeal, the prominence of their churches and their opposition to social vices such as alcohol and gambling. They are even sometimes known for having a quarrelsome nature. But if you want to see the heart of Alabama Baptists, then just look at how they responded to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Last week, this publication reported on the 150-plus Alabama Baptist disaster relief volunteers immediately activated in the aftermath of the hurricane. Most went to the Mobile area in accordance with an agreement with the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) North American Mission Board (NAMB). NAMB officials, who coordinate official SBC relief efforts, asked Alabama Baptists to be responsible for relief efforts in the state, freeing disaster relief teams from other areas to concentrate on Mississippi and Louisiana.

Alabama Baptists arrived in force. Seven feeding units provided thousands of hot meals each day including the food delivered by Red Cross. Chainsaw teams were on the ground cutting up fallen trees and hauling off downed limbs. Cleanup teams helped in numerous ways. There was even a shower unit offering a place where people could get a hot bath.

The number of available teams exceeded Mobile’s immediate need and three Alabama teams were assigned to Biloxi, Miss. Other trained disaster relief units were ready to join the cleanup efforts, but the lack of fuel caused officials to delay their deployment. Officials said there was no sense getting volunteers to the coast if they didn’t have fuel to get to the work sites or run their chain saws.

Do not miss the fact that Alabama Baptists were organized, trained and available to help in Katrina’s aftermath. It takes foresight to see a need and prepare for it. It takes concern to motivate volunteers to train so they will be prepared in emergencies. It takes commitment to be available to serve in the midst of need. It takes a heart of compassion to be involved in disaster relief. It takes a heart of compassion on the part of the volunteers and on the part of the organization that provides the infrastructure that makes the whole system work.

Hurricane Katrina provided a larger window into the heart of Alabama Baptists. Through this wider view, one sees the thousands upon thousands of responses by churches and individuals to the hurricane’s victims.

Alabama Baptists are accustomed to dealing with evacuees. Baptist churches frequently become Red Cross shelters for a night or two as coastal residents flee an approaching storm. But Katrina’s victims are not evacuees. They are refugees — despite what other commentators are saying. A refugee is defined as “one who flees in search of refuge.” They are fleeing one of the nation’s major cities — New Orleans — because it is unlivable and no one knows for how long. At the same time, the Mississippi Gulf Coast is in shambles. Homes are gone. Businesses are gone. Jobs are gone.

Those who fled before the winds and water of this storm arrived cannot go home again. They find themselves in a foreign place with little or nothing. They are refugees.

Alabama Baptists responded to their plight in more ways than can be counted.  Numerous churches in every part of the state collected clothes and made them available to Katrina’s victims. Some did this in cooperation with community agencies. Others worked on their own, inviting storm victims to go through piles of clothes in church parking lots.

Some Alabama Baptist churches learned of specific needs from Baptist churches in Mississippi and Louisiana and provided truckloads of goods to meet these needs. Others are working through local channels to provide for specific needs of people stranded in their area.

Churches have turned Sunday School space into sleeping quarters and given over buildings to refugees for long-term stays. Vacant parsonages and missionary houses are being filled with those in need of a place to stay. Some Alabama Baptists are opening their homes to the storm victims.

Baptists are volunteering in community shelters and providing free services from haircuts to medical treatment. Church recreation facilities have become day-care centers. Toy drives are under way, and some churches are organizing activities for stranded adults. As one Louisiana man said to this writer, “I need something to do. I just cannot sit around day after day.”

In some areas, Baptist churches have banded together to offer at least one free meal each day to refugees. And the list of responses goes on and on.

Some projects are coordinated through Sunday School classes. Other efforts are simply the caring actions of individual Alabama Baptists. But each activity shows the heart of Alabama Baptists. Individually and collectively, the actions show hearts of caring, compassion and commitment.

Perhaps the most common activity is giving. Alabama Baptists are giving almost spontaneously. One church gave a free will offering of more than $1,500 at the Wednesday night prayer meeting following the storm. Another gave $10,000 the next Sunday morning for disaster relief. Churches of every size and in every part of Alabama are giving, and every offering provides a window into the heart of Alabama Baptists. Again it is a heart of compassion.

The Alabama Baptist State Convention is the clearinghouse for Alabama Baptist offerings. From there, money will be shared with Baptist relief efforts in all the affected areas. Every dollar will be used in ministry, and every dollar will be directed by people who are on the ground doing the work. That is a value of the cooperative way Baptists work together.

As Alabama Baptists provide water, toys, socks, diapers, places to sleep and bathe, money and so much more, they also provide a Christian witness. Alabama Baptists care because God cares. Their presence represents the presence of God. Their hugs represent the caring arms of God. Their love represents the love of God. Their message is “God loves you and we do to.”

True to Jesus’ commandment in John 15:12, we love one another because He has loved us.

At their core, Alabama Baptists have a compassionate heart. There is compassion for God and for people. Hurricane Katrina provided one more window for all to see the heart of Alabama Baptists.