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JEAN LAFITTE, La.—Southern Baptists of Texas Disaster Relief volunteers have joined Southern Baptist DR teams from across the nation to serve the survivors of Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana on Aug. 29. The first SBTC DR team deployed on the day of the storm itself, heading to the Alexandria area to assist in coordinating Baptist relief for the entire state.
Currently, SBTC DR incident management, recovery, feeding support, chaplaincy, assessment and shower/laundry crews continue to serve in Golden Meadow, La., where they are being housed at First Baptist Golden Meadow.
Recovery teams are also involved in a rebuild project at Barataria Baptist Church in Jean Lafitte, La. The Jean Lafitte rebuild was begun by volunteers from First Baptist Church Vidor, which in addition to regularly opening its facilities to SBTC DR and other SBDR work, also actively engages in rebuilding projects. SBTC DR recovery and rebuild teams rotated into the area after the First Vidor crews departed.
The fellowship hall at Barataria Baptist was literally swamped by Ida, although its main building, built some 10 feet higher, escaped damage.
Zack Greer, associate minister of missions at First Baptist Pampa, and his father James Greer, director of missions for the Top O’ Texas Baptist Association, flew to New Orleans and rented an all-wheel drive SUV in order to make their way 22 miles south to Jean Lafitte where they examined the extent of the damage yet to be resolved and called for assistance.
First Baptist Vidor’s teams had removed four feet of sheetrock and insulation to start the process of drying out the church, James Greer told the TEXAN. The crew of 13 from Top O’ Texas, most from FBC Pampa, arrived to continue the work of replacing the sheetrock and insulation with work beginning for that group on Oct. 14.
Ida Response by SBTC DR as of Mid-October
“We have a plumber, a sheetrock guy, teachers and church leadership with us,” James Greer said, adding that the association had collected $3,000 from Top O’ Texas churches to purchase tools and equipment for Barataria Baptist so that the work of rebuilding might continue.
The Barataria deployment is the first for the new recovery unit based at FBC Pampa, where Zack Greer serves as unit director, SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice said.
James Greer complimented Barataria pastor Jeff Smith, staff and their wives, who ministered to their community despite the damaged facilities.
“They met the stressed-out folks with a smile and a hand of help,” Greer said of the Louisiana church personnel.
Teams in the field are following COVID protocols, Stice confirmed to the TEXAN.
In addition to the ongoing work in the Golden Meadow and Jean Lafitte areas, SBTC DR teams have completed numerous other deployments in response to Ida, Stice added.
Shower and laundry teams and units have served at West Monroe and Minden in support of shelters for evacuees, at Gonzales in support of power line crews and at Denham Springs in support of recovery workers. Feeding units deployed include quick response kitchens sent to Jean Lafitte, Kenner and Denham Springs and mass care feeding teams serving at Gonzales with the Salvation Army. SBTC DR recovery teams have also worked under the direction of Arkansas Baptist DR in Hammond and Oklahoma DR in Morgan City. SBTC DR has provided other support to Baptist DR teams from Louisiana, North Carolina and Alabama.
“The Ida deployment shows the cooperative nature of disaster relief,” Stice said, adding, “DR is a perfect illustration of cooperative missions where we come together with a common goal of serving disaster survivors.”
