SBTC DR volunteers brought a variety of skills to the field in ‘25—including compassion

Tony Durant’s career prepared him perfectly to be active in Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief. With a background in mining and the industrial rubber industry, the retired business owner embraces the wisdom of 1 Peter 4:10, using his gifts while serving as an SBTC DR unit director, also known as a “blue hat.”

“I’m a fixer. I have a knack to repair,” Durant said. During a recent deployment serving Texas Task Force 2 search and rescue personnel responding to July’s Hill Country flooding, Durant found himself replacing the motherboard on one of the laundry unit’s washing machines.

Leading a new unit on its first deployment, Durant praised his crew of volunteers, saying, “Each of my team members used their gifts to serve people and first responders at Leander. I couldn’t use my gifts without team members who make my job easy.”

While in Leander, Durant and his fellow volunteers washed just shy of 650 loads of laundry in service of Task Force 2.

From August 2024-2025, SBTC DR volunteers assisted first responders and survivors of hurricanes, storms, fires, and floods in Spring, Porter, Harlingen, Brownsville, and Bonham, in addition to the Central Texas flood response in Leander, Kerrville, San Saba, and San Angelo. They also provided relief during water crises in Marlin and Chester. Outside the Lone Star State, they ministered in New Mexico, Florida, California, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

“All ministry facets—chainsaw, feeding, chaplaincy, recovery, assessment, administration, shower and laundry—were in the field this year,” SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice said. “We had 19 deployments in Texas and 15 out of state, totaling 64,100 volunteer hours. Volunteers prepared 138,095 meals for distribution, including 52,074 meals served directly to the public by SBTC DR folks. They made more than 48,000 spiritual contacts and saw 2,827 professions of faith, including those related to the border ministry of West Brownsville Baptist Church.

“Folks like Tony and his team are what make DR ministry successful,” Stice added. “They minister to the physical and spiritual needs of survivors and are bound together themselves by Christian fellowship and friendship.”

— Jane Rodgers