ATLANTA. – As Tropical Storm Hanna heads toward the U.S. coast, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is ready to respond.
Charles Ray, the Fellowship’s disaster response coordinator, said it’s important to remember that the Fellowship specializes in rebuilding efforts – not first response or search and rescue efforts. After the storm, CBF personnel will assess the needs and determine if a Fellowship response is needed.
Tommy Deal, CBF of Florida’s associate coordinator, will be helping coordinate the Fellowship’s response to Hanna, which is expected to affect the coast of North and South Carolina.
Along the U.S. Gulf Coast, CBF personnel are currently responding in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, which made landfall in Louisiana Sept. 1. CBF is working to assess how the Fellowship can help best in recovery efforts following a storm that could have been much worse.
“[With Gustav], I have witnessed the finest preparedness … of my lifetime,” Ray said. “The states of Louisiana and Mississippi did it right. Our military did it right. Those in harm’s way did it right. Now, we must determine how to help those who need it.”
Mass power outages have slowed communication attempts to CBF-affiliated churches. Many congregations were unharmed, though in Baton Rouge, La., University Baptist Church, a CBF-affiliated congregation, reported damage to the church building and to several church members’ homes.
Ray said the Fellowship will continue to work alongside state/regional CBF organizations as well as disaster response partners, including American Baptist Association, Volunteers of America Southeast, Texas Baptist Men, American Baptist Churches-USA and Save the Children Federation.
“We have some great partners that are ready to help us, as we help them,” Ray said. “They offer us expertise in child care in disaster, sheltering, feeding, debris removal, rebuilding, counseling and financial support. CBF brings a coordination of all these assets together to help those with the greatest need and least resources.”
As several storms develop in the Atlantic Ocean, Ray urged Fellowship Baptists to stay ready.
“Not only is Ike moving toward us but so is Josephine. The next few weeks may be critical,” he said.
Churches and individuals are encouraged to contact the disaster response coordinator in their state/regional CBF organization for more information on ways to respond. A list of these disaster response representatives can be found at www.thefellowship.info/Missions/Communities/Disaster-Response/State-or-Region-Contacts.
Updates on the Fellowship’s hurricane response, including opportunities to respond, will be available at www.thefellowship.info/cbfresponds.
To contribute to hurricane relief efforts, send a check payable to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 101699, Atlanta, GA. 30392, indicating fund No. 17004 "Hurricane Relief" in the memo line, call (800) 352-8741 or go to https://www.thefellowship.info/Give/Donate.aspx?fund=HURR.
CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission