Posted: 7/23/04
Fire truck siren in border town means answered prayer
By Sarah Farris
BGCT Summer Intern
SANTA MARIA–Bobby Culpepper got a surprise when he asked a Texas border-town pastor about his community's needs.
Billy Schartz, pastor of La Primera Iglesia Bautista de Santa Maria, told him to pray for a fire truck.
Santa Maria is located near the Texas/Mexico border, not far from Weslaco.
Three homes in Santa Maria recently sustained small fires. But because the nearest fire truck was 15 minutes away, each home was lost.
The men met when Culpepper, minister of missions at Westwood Baptist Church in Alabaster, Ala., traveled to the region assessing needs of border-town churches where his group could minister during an upcoming mission trip to Mexico.
Neither man knew how God would use that meeting.
Upon arriving home, Culpepper mentioned the town's need for a fire truck. Westwood's maintenance man told the people at his church–the same church attended by Pelham (Ala.) Fire Chief Gary Waters.
Waters had an unused 1979 500-gallon pump fire truck in his arsenal. He felt compelled to give the truck to Santa Maria.
“I could have sold the truck for $12,000. (But) you can't place a value on it in Santa Maria,” he said.
The cooperation Waters got from the Pelham city council was “virtually unheard of,” he said.
He cut through the red tape by declaring the truck as surplus and received approval to donate it without any problems. “All it would have taken is one (city council member) to say no,” he noted.
Six weeks after Waters learned about Santa Maria's need, Fire Engine 93 was Texas bound.
The fire chief and two of his men donated their time and even paid for the diesel fuel to take the engine on the 1,100-mile trek to its new home.
Word spread quickly through Santa Maria that a fire engine was coming. Before the vehicle arrived, four men already had signed up to volunteer at the fire department. As Engine 93's sirens announced its entrance into Santa Maria, five more men immediately signed up as volunteer firemen.
The department will be trained by Texas Baptist Men from Creath-Brazos Baptist Association.
Because Santa Maria is not incorporated–it is not officially a town–the fire truck was donated to the church.
“I feel like God had a hand in this from the very beginning,” Culpepper said. “The truck has been used to meet the basic needs of the community, to show the community that God cares, and to draw men into the church.”
The fire truck started a new chapter in the history of the town.
La Primera Iglesia Bautista de Santa Maria has changed its name to First Baptist Church of Santa Maria and hopes the change will connect better with young people who predominantly speak English.
Church members also told Waters that getting the truck was a catalyst for becoming incorporated, and the process since has been initiated.
“God compels us to use the skills, gifts and influence in our expertise,” Waters said.
A baker or a banker would not be expected to donate a fire truck to a South Texas town, but God would expect it of a Christian fire chief, he said.
“It would be a tragedy if I did not answer that call,” he maintained.
The Santa Maria volunteer fire department is now answering calls, too. They even recently crossed the border to assist with an explosion in Mexico.
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