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Stories tagged with: hurricane sandy response

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  • Chainsaw crew sees fruit of the Gospel during Sandy cleanup
    by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, November 08, 2012 (11 years ago)

    TUCKERTON, N.J. (BP) -- The 16-member chainsaw crew had stopped for supper at a restaurant just outside Tuckerton, N.J., having driven all day from Cross Central Church in Lexington, S.C., to help survivors of Hurricane Sandy.

    "This guy was so excited that he was screaming out, 'I love you, Jesus.’"
    Team leader Alan Giddens offered to help a certain storm survivor at the restaurant who said he was fine, directing the team to those in more need, Giddens said.

    "The next morning we're in this neighborhood working and I look up and he's standing behind me. And you can just look at him and see, he's just, he's out of energy. And I turned around and spoke to him," Giddens said. "He said, 'I told you last night I didn't need any help.' But he said, 'My body's broken.' He said, 'I can't go anymore. I need your help.' He said, 'I'm a very proud man, but ... I need you.'"

    Giddens said the man, 51 and strong, cried as he related his plight, expressing surprise and wonder that the crew was there to help.

    In what Giddens described as a providential meeting, the New Jersey man told the crew he had lost everything. His New Jersey coastal community home that had housed four generations of his family suffered four feet of saltwater as Sandy churned Tuckerton Bay ashore. He had no hurricane insurance.

    The crew encouraged the man to go home and rest, Giddens said, and made arrangements to include his home in the day's recovery work. As is the group's custom, they offered to pray with the man before beginning to work on his home that evening.

    "We prayed with [him] and [he] broke down and he said, 'I want what you guys have,' and we shared the Gospel with him," Giddens said. "And he said, 'I can't do that. I've been bad in my life. I can't. There's no way I can go to heaven.'

    "Of course we shared with him we've all been bad. We've all sinned. We sin every day. But Jesus died on that cross for our sins and that He forgives us," Giddens said. The man accepted Jesus.

    "This guy was so excited that he was screaming out, 'I love you, Jesus,'" Giddens said. "He even called his friend on the phone and he said, 'I just had to call and tell you I just accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior,' and he said, 'And you need to too.'"

    The Cross Central Church recovery team arrived in New Jersey on Halloween and began work the next day, clearing debris, damaged furniture and fallen trees from homes and streets in Tuckerton, Little Egg Harbor Township and Absecon. Like the man they encountered at the restaurant, the people generally were slow to accept help, Giddens said.

    "The first day we got a lot of, 'No, we're OK. We don't need help,' ... because that part of the country is not used to seeing yellow shirts," Giddens said, referring to the common uniform on Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and recovery volunteers. "By about the second day ... people started coming up and thanking us for being there, just going out of their way to thank us."

    The team helped 29 families. Read More

  • N.J. governor thanks volunteers as Baptist response continues
    by Joe Conway, posted Tuesday, November 06, 2012 (11 years ago)

    MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (BP) -- Election Day dawned with Hurricane Sandy storm survivors voting in tents -- along with a reminder of the preparation of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers. Prior to Sandy's landfall, SBDR area commander Mark Gauthier reminded state DR leaders to make sure deploying volunteers voted absentee before they traveled to begin ministry.

    Photo by Mike Ebert/NAMB
    The day also brought continued meal preparation at more than 16 locations and increased mud-out jobs, with more requests mounting. The previous day, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie commended yellow-shirted Baptist volunteers in Middletown, N.J.

    North American Mission Board DR executive director Fritz Wilson, meanwhile, said the Sandy response will continue well into the new year.

    Middletown has become one of the hubs of SBDR ministry where volunteers, primarily from Oklahoma thus far, are being hosted by New Monmouth Baptist Church and pastor Mike Miller.

    "This is an unusual operation," said Dave Karr, on-site coordinator for the Middletown response. "Things have not progressed the way they normally do in a disaster setting. Local people are finding their way to shelters and the church members here are finding out what they need. The local shelters have told us how many meals they need and the church members are delivering the meals to the shelters."

    Karr, a six-year DR veteran, is accompanied by some 90 Oklahoma SBDR volunteers to operate a three-station kitchen capable of preparing 35,000 meals a day, a shower unit, a laundry unit, three chain saw units and a mud-out unit. Karr, a member of Bethel Baptist Church in Norman, Okla., said nothing has been typical about this response.

    Karr and his team received word Monday that Gov. Christie would be visiting a nearby firehouse. "We decided we'd take a look," Karr said. Read More

  • 700 Baptist volunteers at work, sent by 25 state conventions
    by Joe Conway, posted Monday, November 05, 2012 (11 years ago)

    EDISON, N.J. (BP) -- "We've faced some tremendous challenges, but we are still serving people despite it all," said Karen Smith, a Southern Baptist Disaster Relief leader serving with her Kentucky feeding kitchen at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, N.Y.

    Photo by Laura Sikes
    "This has been an awesome experience," said Smith, whose team was among the first SBDR units deployed in response to Hurricane Sandy. "We've faced obstacles, but we are here serving people in need."

    Smith and her crew of 37 fellow Kentuckians have been preparing meals for nearly a week. They supplied 15,000 meals on Sunday, Nov. 4, to be delivered by American Red Cross volunteers into the surrounding community. Smith expected the total to be much higher Monday. Kentucky Kitchen 01 is capable of producing 50,000 meals per day.

    Four professions of faith in Christ were reported by volunteers -- two armed services members at a military base and a couple in coastal New Jersey. Members of a Tennessee SBDR team were distributing meals at the base when they were able to share the Gospel with the servicemen.

    In Little Egg Harbor, N.J., a South Carolina recovery crisis intervention team was canvassing a neighborhood, South Carolina disaster relief director Cliff Satterwhite recounted. Two male members of the team led the husband to faith in Christ at the front door of the home while two female members shared the Gospel with the wife in the backyard.

    As more SBDR volunteers arrived in the affected areas over the weekend, plans were developing for the transition to recovery work, primarily chain saw, mud-out and clean-up. And with a predicted nor'easter on its way to the region, a tremendous amount of work is yet to be done, according to SBDR leaders. Forecasts called for freeze advisories Monday night and warned of winds from 20-30 mph and up to three inches of rain when the storm was expected to come through Wednesday.

    SBDR leaders cautioned against sending donations of supplies or collected items to the affected areas. ... Read More

  • Churches, volunteers join to ease suffering
    by Staff, posted Monday, November 05, 2012 (11 years ago)

    LUMBERTON, N.J. (BP) -- Serving as a command center for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers has offered Southside Baptist Church in Lumberton, N.J., rich opportunities for fellowship with other believers, said Fernando Downs, pastor of the 150-member congregation. Read More

  • 'Incredible amount of ministry' under way in superstorm's wake
    by Joe Conway, posted Friday, November 02, 2012 (11 years ago)

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (BP) -- Hundreds of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers continued to provide ministry in the wake of Hurricane Sandy Friday, Nov. 1. More than 450 volunteers with some 45 units from nine Baptist state conventions were working in at least six states affected by the storm.

    WAYS TO HELP:

    Churches -- Video Download

    Individuals -- Donate

    SBDR volunteers from Kentucky, New York and Virginia were working at feeding kitchens in New York. In New Jersey, volunteers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina and South Carolina were feeding storm victims. Virginia volunteers continued to serve alongside West Virginia volunteers in the Mountaineer state. Assessment teams were working in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. Chain saw and recovery teams were also at work across the region.

    Photo by Laura Sikes/NAMB
    "There is an incredible amount of ministry taking place," SBDR area response commander Mark Gauthier said. "We have four kitchens feeding in New York, four in New Jersey and one in West Virginia. There are another half dozen en route to New York now," said Gauthier, who serves as mobilization director for the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia state convention.

    Three Kentucky Baptist kitchens were serving at Aqueduct Racetrack, on Staten Island and at Deer Park on Long Island, all in New York. A Baptist General Association of Virginia kitchen was feeding at Rockaway, N.Y.

    Volunteers from Pennsylvania-South Jersey were serving in Hammonton, N.J., where they were joined by a kitchen and team from South Carolina. Georgia volunteers also were serving with their kitchen at Waretown, N.J. Two North Carolina kitchens and their volunteer teams were serving in New Brunswick and Tom's River, N.J.

    The mobilization of another half dozen kitchens and 250 volunteers was in full swing Friday with teams from Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Southern Baptist of Texas, Texas Baptist Men and Tennessee on their way to New York.

    Fritz Wilson, executive director for disaster relief for the North American Mission Board, said he expects most of the teams to be serving in the New York City area by Monday, with a capacity to produce 450,000 hot meals each day. Potential requests for additional meal-per-day capacity could take the number well above 450,000 meals per day provided by SBDR volunteers.

    Video of a North Carolina feeding unit at Rutgers University is available for download at namb.net/sandy_rutgers_video. NAMB President Kevin Ezell released a video on the SBDR response to Sandy this week. The video may be downloaded at namb.net/sandy_video.

    From its disaster operations center in Alpharetta, Ga., NAMB coordinates Southern Baptist responses to major disasters through a partnership between NAMB and the SBC's 42 state conventions, most of which have their own state disaster relief programs.

    SBDR assets include 82,000 trained volunteers, including chaplains, and some 1,550 mobile units for feeding, chainsaw, mud-out, command, communication, childcare, shower, laundry, water purification, repair/rebuild and power generation. SBDR is one of the three largest mobilizers of trained disaster relief volunteers in the United States, along with the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army.

    Southern Baptists and others who want to donate to the disaster relief operations can contact their state conventions or go to NAMB's disaster relief fund site ... Read More

  • 'Power of the local church' on display in NYC
    by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, November 02, 2012 (11 years ago)

    "The aid that we're providing will open up the opportunity to share the Gospel for at least the next couple of years."

    -- Pastor Freddy T. Wyatt

    NEW YORK CITY (BP) -- The elderly lady was afraid to open the door. Alone in the dark in her apartment on the 23rd floor of the Fulton government housing complex in Chelsea Park days after Hurricane Sandy struck, she was not accustomed to people helping. Read More

  • Pastor: Storm connects churches with people
    by Staff, posted Friday, November 02, 2012 (11 years ago)

    NEW YORK CITY (BP) -- Hurricane Sandy, which now has killed at least 96 people on the East Coast, also brought with it opportunities for churches to connect with people in their communities, a church planter on Long Island, N.Y., said. Read More

  • Baptist post-Sandy commitment to reach 400,000 meals per day
    by Joe Conway, posted Thursday, November 01, 2012 (11 years ago)

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (BP) -- In an unprecedented move for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, all large capacity mobile kitchens in the fleet east of the Rocky Mountains have been asked to mobilize in response to Hurricane Sandy. The goal is to begin preparing a minimum of 400,000 meals a day by Monday, Nov. 5.

    Photo by John Swain/NAMB
    "As we worked through the planning and continued to receive reports about the need, the conviction came on me that Southern Baptists need to step out in faith and mobilize now," said North American Mission Board Disaster Relief executive director Fritz Wilson. "I contacted [NAMB] president Kevin Ezell and shared the conviction of our area command team and he agreed."

    Photo by John Swain/NAMB
    On Thursday NAMB trustees authorized the entity to cover the travel expense for state conventions that needed the assistance in mobilizing their DR teams to the region. During the height of SBDR response to Hurricane Katrina, volunteers prepared 425,000 meals per day.

    On Thursday SBDR volunteers from Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina were serving in New York and New Jersey, along with volunteers from the affected states. SBDR volunteers from those states and the Baptist General Convention of Virginia, Maryland-Delaware, New England, Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia and West Virginia were preparing up to 150,000 meals and were working with chainsaw and recovery units.

    The New York Baptist convention's kitchen was on its way to Staten Island where volunteers will begin serving meals Friday. "Staten Island is a high priority," said NAMB DR response coordinator Eddie Blackmon, who is stationed at national American Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C. Read More

  • Baptists to see 'high-capacity' Sandy response in N.Y. & N.J.
    by Joe Conway, posted Wednesday, October 31, 2012 (11 years ago)

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (BP) -- Wind, flood, fire and snow have combined to displace thousands of residents in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and West Virginia. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are on their way to the hardest-hit areas in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, bringing help and hope in the midst of crisis.

    "We have probably not had a single-event response request of this level since Hurricane Katrina."

    -- Fritz Wilson, DR exec dir

    Southern Baptist church planter Wayne Burton in Jersey City, N.J., is among the millions living in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Burton and his wife Erin moved to the city several years ago to put down roots and begin planting a church.

    As the storm approached, the Burtons prepared their apartment before evacuating to a nearby hotel. Returning home early Tuesday, they were met with extensive flooding that had reached into their apartment and destroyed most of their belongings.

    "As Southern Baptist Disaster Relief we have a hope and a ministry" to come alongside the Burtons as they labor with Jersey City residents in the daunting recovery that lies ahead, Bruce Poss, DR coordinator for the North American Mission Board. Poss is the Southern Baptist liaison with the Federal Emergency Management Agency serving in Washington, D.C., for the response to Hurricane Sandy. "This is our time to do what God has commissioned us to do."

    SBDR units from across the country were heading toward staging areas in New York and New Jersey Wednesday and assessments and requests for assistance were being made. One of the largest requests, for as many as 100,000 meals per day, has come from New York City. Read More