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GRAPEVINE Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief volunteers deployed to the Carolinas Sept. 24 in the wake of Hurricane Florence. Following rains over the weekend of Sept. 21-22, SBTC DR assessors began evaluating 140 flooded homes in Tarrant County’s Forest Hill community in anticipation of sending mud-out teams to that area soon.
Five SBTC mud-out units and feeding volunteers set out for North and South Carolina on Sept. 24, SBTC DR announced on Twitter.
Clean-up and recovery teams and feeding volunteers began serving in Dillon, South Carolina, while shower and laundry units and teams traveled to assist the North Carolina communities of Laurinburg, Wallace and Wilmington. A chainsaw unit also deployed to North Carolina, Stice said
On Sept. 26, Stice issued a call-out for additional volunteers in recovery, feeding and chaplaincy for South Carolina and shower/laundry personnel for North Carolina. Deployments are expected to last 12 days, with eight working days sandwiched between travel days.
Anticipating the need for relief teams as early as the first week of October, Stice requested prayer for volunteers, victims and the spread of the gospel.
SBTC DR had a busy September, on and off the field.
A team from Borger returned after a two week deployment to the big island of Hawaii where they did mud-out work in response to Hurricane Lane. The team was based in Hilo near the Kilauea volcano which erupted from May to August, Stice noted.
While the Panhandle team worked in Hilo, Stice and crews resupplied SBTC DR trailers and units with materials left over from Hurricane Harvey, outfitting two new units based in Royce City and Melissa in the process.
Excess tools and supplies were shipped to Pennsylvania to refurbish DR units there. In addition, a trailer belonging to the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention was transported to Texas from Arizona by that state’s Baptist DR, then outfitted by the SBTC to be sent to Hawaii, Stice said.
SBTC DR also held its first unit director roundtable meeting at Latham Springs Baptist Camp Sept. 21-22. Thirty-four attended.
“We discussed policies, procedures and trouble-shooting, and got ideas from our unit directors,” Stice told the TEXAN, adding that the pilot weekend included fellowship, practical workshops and preaching from Terry Coy, former SBTC missions director.
