Baptists make 2 million meals in hurricane relief
Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers surpassed the milestone of preparing more than 2 million hot meals in the wake of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. More than 100 units from 19 state Baptist conventions were serving in Texas in response to the needs created by Hurricane Ike. In Louisiana, meanwhile, 97 Southern Baptist disaster relief units and teams serving with the Red Cross and Salvation Army were deployed. In addition to preparing more than 2.1 million meals, Southern Baptists have served more than 40,000 volunteer days, completed 1,236 chain-saw jobs, provided 24,561 showers, purified 7,008 gallons of water and finished 4,960 loads of laundry. Volunteers have had 13,420 ministry contacts, while chaplains have had 1,569 contacts. Volunteers and chaplains have led 125 people to Christ in the three weeks since the Gustav/Ike responses began.
Southern closed for week without power
Classes at Southern Baptist Seminary and Boyce College will be closed the remainder of the week due to power outages throughout Louisville, Ky., caused by strong winds from remnants of Hurricane Ike. Winds around 75 mph knocked down power lines, uprooted trees and knocked out power to nearly 300,000 homes and businesses in the city. The seminary and college are without power. There have been no injuries to anyone related to the seminary or the college, and no major structural damage to any of the buildings. The seminary is providing meals and other essential services to students remaining on campus.
CP milestone set by Alabama Baptists
Churches affiliated with the Alabama Baptist State Convention set a milestone Sept. 8: recording $1 billion in gifts through the Cooperative Program since the Southern Baptist Convention’s unified budget was founded in 1925. “We are blessed with some great churches in Alabama,” noted Bobby DuBois, the state convention’s chief financial officer. “Some are pacesetters in the number of dollars given to missions, while others lead the way in per capita giving or giving as a percentage of undesignated receipts. The bottom line is clear: The reaching of this milestone is the result of Alabama Baptist churches of all sizes and geographic locations cooperating together to reach the world for Christ. No single church in Alabama could have achieved this goal alone, but together we have.”
Cuba food shortages draw Baptist aid
Even as Cuban government officials warned Sept. 18 of a severe shortage of food during the next six months, Florida Baptists were exploring ways to ship food and building supplies to aid its decade-long partner, the Western Cuba Baptist Convention. The food shortage was caused when Hurricanes Gustav and Ike ripped through the island nation earlier this month, damaging crops of rice, beans, plantains and sweet potatoes, killing farm animals and, according to CNN, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.
See You at the Pole draws students
Students across the nation gathered to pray at the flagpole in front of their schools Sept. 24 as part of See You at the Pole, the annual student-led, student-initiated prayer event begun in 1990. See You at the Pole gives students an opportunity to pray for one another, for their school and their nation, and it also allows Christians within each school to get to know one another. This year’s theme was “Connect” – as in, connecting with God – and is based on the story of 1 Samuel 3. Samuel, organizers note, began his relationship with the Lord as a young person. Last year, more than 2 million teenagers across the nation participated.