Collegiate ministry joins Disaster Relief to serve Hurricane Sandy victims

The Baptist Courier

Ken Owens, director of the South Carolina Baptist Convention’s Collegiate Ministry Group, tells the story of a 40-something Staten Island firefighter whose life was turned upside down by Hurricane Sandy, a devastating hurricane that struck the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States in late October 2012.

The firefighter had encountered members of the state collegiate ministry’s team of students who traveled to Staten Island Dec. 12-18 to assist the Southern Baptist Convention’s Disaster Relief efforts there.

“He was a tough and self-sufficient New Yorker, but the storm had rocked his world, and it was a very emotional time for him,” Owens said. “He told our students that he had been through a lot but had never experienced anything like this storm and recovery. He told our students, ‘You will never know the blessing you have been in my life and the difference you are making in my life, helping me get back on my feet and moving forward.’ “

That’s just one story.

As the group of 171 students, campus ministers, adult leaders, and South Carolina Disaster Relief coordinators began working in teams to serve in 38 different homes, it became more than cleaning out basements, killing mold, removing rotten drywall and mud, and cleaning up property. It was also about leaving Bibles with encouraging Scripture and notes, and about prayer with homeowners at the start and finish of each project.

“One of the homeowners said, ‘I think this is the first time in my life that a group has prayed for me out loud when I wasn’t in a church,’ ” Owens said. “The trip was about the physical cleanup of disaster relief, but it was also about giving out hope and helping people understand that God loves them despite the storms in our lives. That’s why he sent Jesus into the world, because he loves us so much.”

Brittany Serago, a Winthrop University junior, said, “This trip made Super Storm Sandy personal for me.? I hurt now as these people hurt.?This was the perfect opportunity to help disaster victims physically and spiritually. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”

Her feelings were echoed by Hal Ruska, a freshman from Coastal Carolina University. “This mission trip was a humbling experience that left me with a heart of compassion and a love for others.?I thank God for the lives that were changed and the opportunity to be there and help those in need.”?

Owens said that when a storm hits, “we immediately sense that there is a real need, but after 30 or 60 days we begin to forget that those people are [still] very much in need. When we got to New York, we understood that we had underestimated the storm’s effect on so many people. It was a great opportunity for our students to see the physical, emotional and spiritual impact of natural disasters, to minister through it, and to fully appreciate what Southern Baptists do in disaster relief ministry.”

Owens said that, working with South Carolina Disaster Relief and the North American Mission Board, “it’s our understanding that this was the largest collegiate Disaster Relief team ever at one time.”

The students received disaster relief training at the convention building in Columbia on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 12, and then, leaving about 9 p.m., drove all night in buses to Staten Island, where work began on Thursday, Dec. 13. The group lived in a make-shift Disaster Relief tent village at a Lutheran church property. They were fed by DR volunteers from Florida. Students came together from South Carolina collegiate ministry groups from 13 campuses across the state. The group returned home on Tuesday, Dec. 18.

“Our students did very practical and very hard and dirty work to help people they didn’t know, in a community they didn’t know, because there’s hope in the Lord,” Owens said.

The group’s 5,000 volunteer hours will further help the community receive additional funds from the federal government, Owens said.

David Bennett, a Clemson senior and state Baptist Collegiate Ministry president, said, “This trip opened my eyes to the opportunity we have to spread the gospel during a time of disaster.? Not only were we able to touch the physical needs of the people in Staten Island, but we were also able to impact spiritual lostness.” – SCBC