April 27, 2011, was a turning point for many Alabamians. The storms that rolled through the state that day left behind death and destruction and lives were changed forever.
The day after the storms marked a turning point for Terri Hibbard. That’s when Donald Payne, her pastor at Forest Lake Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, asked her to head up the church’s storm assistance effort, which became known as Wings of Grace Disaster Relief Center.
Hibbard, who grew up attending Forest Lake Baptist but moved away as a young adult, had only recently moved back to Tuscaloosa to care for her aging parents. And not long before the storms she was sidelined with a broken neck in a bicycle accident, rendering her physically unable to continue her job as a tennis player. Though she didn’t know it at the time God was paving the way for her eventual calling by putting her in a place and position of availability.
‘Walking miracle’
“I’m a walking miracle,” Hibbard said. “The Lord took me out of the athletic field and put me in this area of work.”
Through serving, often in leadership capacities with various charitable organizations over the years, Hibbard knew about recruiting volunteers and managing resources to benefit worthy causes. She realized the project she was about to take on would be a tremendous task, but she also knew it had to be done. So the day after the storms she and a host of volunteers pulled some tables together and got down to business.
“The 18-wheelers started arriving with supplies and people were coming to help any way they possibly could,” she recalled. “People brought sandwiches and other food; the Salvation Army set up in the parking lot and fed people for six weeks.”
Wings of Grace also received help from such organizations as the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, World Vision, CitiIMPACT Ministries and others. Donated items poured in from other churches, retail stores, corporations, student groups, civic groups and individuals. In fact, Hibbard could talk all day long when asked to name even just the major contributors to Wings of Grace.
“We were so blessed here in Tuscaloosa to have so many hearts touched by our story,” she said.
Nearly four years later Wings of Grace continues full-throttle. While some of the organizations initially involved have had to move on to other crises the Tuscaloosa community is doing its best to take up the slack in terms of donations. Dry cleaners donate unclaimed clothing; a local newspaper holds coat drives; bakeries donate day-old bread; elementary school kids collect canned goods; and the list goes on.
And as long as the need continues so will the ministry, Hibbard said. During the holidays alone, Wings of Grace served 340 clients at Thanksgiving and nearly 300 more at Christmas. Since the storms, tons of food, clothing, toiletries and other items have been distributed including around 1,500 Bibles.
“It’s just incredible,” Hibbard said. “We never dreamed we’d be here this long, but the Lord keeps providing more and more people for us to help and more and more things for us to help them with. People read or hear about what we’re doing and want to pitch in.”
The need, however, isn’t limited to clients. Wings of Grace is now lacking in at least one critical area. Over the past year or so some of the ministry’s volunteers have been lost to illness and other circumstances, leaving the remaining staff members stretched to their limits. One of the most faithful volunteers, Hibbard’s father, James Mosely, passed away in 2014.
Need for volunteers
“My prayer is for more volunteers,” Hibbard said. “We don’t want to keep people waiting to be helped. The need is still out there and we don’t turn anybody away. Even if they don’t qualify for food assistance, they get something.”
In the meantime the work never ceases. But the compensation as far as Hibbard is concerned couldn’t be greater.
“It’s been a reward every day,” she said. “You never know how the Lord is going to bless your ministry.”
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