(Tony Wolfe, executive director-treasurer of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, provided The Baptist Courier with the following first-person account of SCBaptist Disaster Relief work in communities across the state this past week.)
Since the early daylight hours of Friday morning, Sept. 27, SCBaptist Disaster Relief teams have been on the ground serving our neighbors and sharing the gospel.
In the past week, I have personally worked alongside high school students, college students, working professionals, and retired senior adults. They have come from all over the state, and some from outside our state, to serve communities in need. We have cut trees from houses, fed neighborhoods, cleaned laundry, cleared roadways, served linemen, provided hot showers, delivered gas and working tools, prayed with hurting people, and verbally shared the gospel.
Tony Wolfe
Vanessa and I have another SCBaptist minister’s family staying in our own home, as theirs is still without electricity. None of this is heroic. It’s not abnormal. This is just what Christ’s people do. This is what SCBaptists do. We rise to every occasion to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ and to share the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to turn every temporary tragedy into eternal victory. Perhaps nothing puts that power on open display more compellingly than gospel-centered response to widespread disaster.
Hurricane Helene has devastated our state from coast to coast. The hurricane-force wind damage in the Upstate is matched by 18 confirmed tornadoes stretching all the way to the coastline. From Fort Mill to Hilton Head and Long Creek to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolinians are in for a very long recovery effort. But, as Jon Jamison, our Serve Team leader, notes, “Everywhere Hurricane Helene has brought disaster and devastation, SCBaptists bring help and hope.”
(Photo by SCBaptist Creative Team)
SCBaptist Disaster Relief crews across the state are staging relief and recovery efforts in chainsaw units, shower units, feeding units, mud-out units, laundry units, and so much more. They are demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m so proud of our SCBaptist family.
The needs across South Carolina are great. How can you help?
Churches can mobilize their credentialed disaster relief teams in state and, in some cases, they can mobilize other volunteers in connection with SCBaptist DR efforts as well. The need for active, physical labor across our state will not subside for many months, and who better to serve our neighbors as the hands and feet of Jesus than SCBaptists?
Churches can also give designated financial gifts directly to SCBaptist Disaster Relief. Because the Cooperative Program supplies the necessary ongoing administrative and personnel costs for DR (thank you, CP-contributing SCBaptist churches!), 100 percent of designated DR funds goes to disaster relief efforts in our state. These funds are used to supply tangible needs for DR work such as chainsaw mix, gas, buckets, gloves, shockwave, food supplies, laundry detergent, personal hygiene items, and heavy equipment to be utilized by trained and credentialed volunteers. Designated DR funds also allow us to assist volunteers with travel costs and to make grants to associations and churches who are at work on the ground.
SCBaptists are a generous people, and I am confident they will rise to this opportunity to help our state recover from the desolation that Helene has brought. We already have the mechanism, the trained and credentialed volunteers, and the networks necessary to rise to this occasion. I trust the funding will come as God opens the hearts and hands of SCBaptists to meet this ongoing financial need.
Editor’s Note: Associational Mission Strategists are making local arrangements for drop-off times and locations. They will communicate how to help get supplies to churches in impacted areas. Find out more here.