Stories tagged with: hurricane irma

• 3rd Virgin Islands crusade to continue imparting hope

  by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, January 19, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo from Feeding the Five Thousand

  ST CROIX, U.S. Virgin Islands (BP) -- Devastation and suffering among Hurricane Irma and Maria survivors in the U.S. Virgin Islands were palpable to Florida Baptist Jeffery Singletary, who led a mission trip to the islands months before the storms.

  His heart's response was a series of "Feeding the Five Thousand" crusades that reaped 620 decisions for Christ and fed thousands both spiritually and physically, Singletary, a regional catalyst with the Florida Baptist Convention, told Baptist Press. A crusade on St. Croix Jan. 28 -30 will be his third.

  "I knew they had four great needs -- food, clothing, shelter and hope," Singletary said. "Red Cross could help provide food and clothing. FEMA could help provide shelter. But only the church of Jesus Christ can provide real hope." Read More

• THANKSGIVING: Hurricanes shift holiday preaching

  by David Roach, posted Wednesday, November 22, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo submitted by Liberty Baptist Church.

  NAPLES, Fla. (BP) -- In hurricane-devastated areas of Texas and Florida, Thanksgiving preaching might have been a unique challenge this year at congregations where homes, businesses and church buildings were lost to severe weather.

  Yet pastors in Texas, where Hurricane Harvey hit in late August, and Florida, where Hurricane Irma hit in September, say their congregations have overflowed with thanks this fall, and Thanksgiving preaching has turned out to be a unique joy. Read More

• Preschooler raises $400 for disaster relief

  by Carrie Brown McWhorter/Alabama Baptist, posted Wednesday, October 18, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo courtesy of The Alabama Baptist

  JEMISON, Ala.(BP) -- When 4-year-old Holden Roberts saw a news report featuring a little girl whose family had taken shelter from Hurricane Irma, it made him sad to think that kids had to leave their favorite toys behind.

  Holden's favorite toy is a log truck, but he asked his parents, Brett and Julie Roberts, about sending some of his other toys to the children who had lost theirs. Read More

• 'Like a warzone' conditions for Ky. DR team

  by Todd Deaton/Western Recorder, posted Wednesday, October 18, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo courtesy of the Western Recorder

  ST. THOMAS, VIRGIN ISLANDS (BP) -- Nineteen Kentucky Baptists arrived in St. Thomas on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 8) to face some "extremely challenging" working conditions on the tiny Caribbean island, devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

  The disaster relief team of 19 that will be serving through Oct. 29, is partnering with nine Baptist churches in the Virgin Islands. They will be feeding those affected by the storms and doing chainsaw and flood clean-up. Read More

• Church rallies after hurricane to serve Fla. community

  by Josie Bingham, posted Wednesday, September 27, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo by Daniel Draddy.

  IMMOKALEE, Fla. (BP) -- Inside a gym with yellow walls, 200 volunteers form an assembly line. These helpers from First Baptist Church of Immokalee, Fla., are bagging food and cleaning supplies in the church's gym because it's one of the few buildings left standing after Hurricane Irma reduced the already-impoverished area to even less.

  "Our awesome volunteers are inside and outside the church manning all kinds of stations from bagging to distribution so that when people's cars pull up, they can get everything they need," said Jessica Pigg, wife of senior pastor Timothy Pigg. ... Read More

• UPDATE: SBDR reports on Puerto Rico response

  by Brandon Elrod, posted Friday, September 22, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from washingtonpost.com

  ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- After Hurricane Maria knocked power out for nearly the entire population of Puerto Rico, the island's infrastructure is devastated and initial reports estimate that it will take months before services can be completely restored.

  On Thursday afternoon (Sept. 21), FEMA officials sought to organize a response in Puerto Rico with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) as well as American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Read More

• CP overage reallocation to aid hurricane survivors

  by Art Toalston, posted Wednesday, September 20, 2017 (7 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from NAMB

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Southern Baptists' Cooperative Program helped survivors after Hurricane Katrina in 2005; it will do so again in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey and, now, Maria.

  The SBC Executive Committee, in its Sept. 18-19 meeting in Nashville, voted to utilize overages in the 2016-2017 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget for disaster relief in two ways:

  -- Designating the first $1.25 million of any overage in the SBC's $189 million allocation budget for disaster relief in Florida and Texas by the Send Relief ministry of the North American Mission Board. Read More

• Best ways to give in times of crisis  

  by Diana Chandler, posted Monday, September 18, 2017 (7 years ago)

  

  CBS screen grab

  HOUSTON (BP) -- Mickey Caison has seen it many times in his disaster relief career. Well-meaning folks collect a truckload of food and clothing, drive perhaps hundreds of miles to a disaster zone, but can find no place to deliver the goods.

  Deciding "let's put a trailer on the lot and fill it up with goods to take to Texas, is the most ineffective way of providing support," Caison told Baptist Press from Houston, where he is coordinating the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) response to Hurricane Harvey's destruction there. Read More

• Baptist DR not letting up after ruinous Irma, Harvey

  by Brandon Elrod, posted Friday, September 15, 2017 (7 years ago)

  

  Photo from Facebook

  FORT MEYERS, Fla. (BP) -- Southern Baptist Disaster Relief continues to deploy volunteers to help respond to immediate needs in Florida and the Caribbean left by Hurricane Irma while still maintaining focus on enormous needs from Hurricane Harvey in Houston, south Texas and Louisiana.

  In Florida, seven Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) feeding units from several states in the Southeast have arrived as well as some from the Northeast. Many are set to begin feeding today (Friday, Sept. 15). On Thursday, a crew from the Baptist General Association of Virginia prepared 1,200 meals in Palm Coast. Read More

• As evacuees headed north, Ga. Baptists gave shelter

  by Joe Westbury/Georgia Christian Index, posted Wednesday, September 13, 2017 (7 years ago)

  

  Photo from Tim Sizemore

  MACON, Ga. (BP) -- As Hurricane Irma evacuees streamed north, Baptists in Georgia welcomed Floridians fleeing the storm's looming wrath.

  One church even turned some of its 16 acres into a makeshift RV campground.

  At Lighthouse Baptist, just off Interstate 75 in Macon, Ga., pastor Tim Sizemore and church leaders decided they could offer evacuees more than their small sanctuary. Read More