Posted: 8/06/04
| Members of The Oaks Baptist Church in Grand Prairie and Texas Baptist Men volunteers discuss where dehumidifiers will be most helpful after floodwaters deluged parts of North Texas. |
Floods prompt outpouring of ministry
By John Hall
Texas Baptist Communications
BALCH SPRINGS–Debbie Christner stood on her porch as rushing water encroached on her home. It had happened before, and the water always receded before it flooded the house. But this time was different. The water did not slow down.
She and her daughters had to be rescued by firefighters with ropes and lighted helmets. Several feet of water filled Christner's home. Nearly everything–furniture, walls, pictures, and fence–was damaged.
“The only thing I can keep is my TV,” she said. “And I don't even watch TV.”
After the water receded, the situation grew graver as the only person who came to help Christner was a neighbor, Sherry McCormick. The two women struggled to remove Christner's belongings alone. Then the Red Cross connected them with Texas Baptist Men clean-out volunteers.
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| Emily Jackson, 14, sorts through a box of compact discs to see if they were damaged by floodwaters. Jackson's youth group from Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas were among the Texas Baptist volunteers who helped clean out flooded homes in the south Dallas suburbs. |
Christner's home was one of the many houses Texas Baptist Men clean-out units worked on in southern Dallas suburbs. The Collin, Lubbock and Amarillo associational units primarily served in Lancaster, where flooding damaged nearly 200 homes.
By Aug. 4, TBM had 70 houses on a list to clean out.
Volunteers removed furniture and helped residents pack their belongings for storage. Workers also tore out water-soaked wood and sheetrock.
The Texas Baptist Men Dallas Baptist Association feeding unit prepared 600 meals a day for the Red Cross to deliver to those in need. Victim Relief Ministries counseled people who were affected by the flooding.
“I just feel so sorry for these people,” said Barbara Erwin, a TBM volunteer from Shady Oaks Baptist Church in Hurst. “This is such a devastation. It affects everything.”
The clean-out and feeding units got a boost from area Baptist churches that sent groups of volunteers to help.
Members of First Baptist Church in Lancaster and Hampton Road Baptist in DeSoto helped the feeding unit. Individuals from The Oaks Baptist Church in Grand Prairie helped the clean-out crews.
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| Reed Harris (left) and Ryan Harris put bags of collectibles in storage after floodwaters filled several feet of a Balch Springs home. Their youth group from Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas helped several families pack and store their belongings following late July floods. (John Hall Photo) |
Members of the youth group from Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas helped Christner and other neighbors clean their homes.
Kenny Cheshire, the church's youth minister, said the group saw the damage on the way back from the Houston Astros game and felt a desire to help.
When a member of Cliff Temple–Beverly Phillips, ministry assistant in the Baptist General Convention of Texas bivocational and small church development office–sent an e-mail asking for volunteers in the area, the youth responded.
“Where there's a need, we need to do it,” Cheshire said.
Reed Harris, 14, said he decided to help flood victims because it would have a lasting impact in people's lives.
Rebuilding the homes can be a several-month process. Many will need to be reconstructed completely, replacing the walls, floors and all furniture. But it all starts with the cleaning process. In this case, it started with a little help from Texas Baptist Men and members of the Texas Baptist family.
“We're just here to serve the Lord and help the people,” said Bill Gresso of Northlake Baptist Church in Garland, coordinator for the TBM emgergency food service effort.
Disaster relief ministry meets the needs of people, but it also raises churches' profiles in the community as residents see church members are people who want to help their neighbors in need, Gresso added.
TBM needs additional workers to help residents through the recovery process, shoveling mud out of homes and moving furniture.
To volunteer, call Jeanette Nichols at (214) 828-5357.
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