SBDR Roundtable celebrates year of ministry and innovation

SAN ANTONIO—More than 200 leaders and volunteers representing 37 Southern Baptist state conventions gathered Jan. 28-30 for the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Roundtable.

The three-day event resembled an extended reunion of family and friends, with ample opportunities for attendees to acquire advanced training in the latest DR practices. SBDR holds two national Roundtables per year, one in January and one following the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in June.

Coy Webb, Send Relief crisis response director, called the meeting a celebration following an “extremely active year of disasters” in which SBDR offered “help and hope during times of crisis.”

Continuing education to meet crises

The day before the conference opened, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention DR Director Scottie Stice and SBTC DR associate Wally Leyerle conducted a special “train the trainer” session for Alaska DR leadership.

Participants chose among training sessions on mass feeding, incident management, data reporting, and electronic asset protection. Some opted for instruction in the safe operation of man lifts and the latest methods of using ladders and tarping roofs. Others received training in shower and laundry operations or emergency first aid.

Kentucky’s Karen Smith, chair of the SBDR national feeding committee, conducted special training for a new position in DR: feeding operations chief. Stice and Leyerle, both on the national feeding committee, assisted Smith. Recent SBTC DR work in Spruce Pine, N.C., following Hurricane Helene generated discussion—the deployment followed a new model for SBDR involving a cooperative arrangement with Walmart which offered both parking lot space and support.

A Tuesday session featuring state Baptist DR directors addressed questions from last June’s Roundtable.

On Wednesday, a panel discussion among Salvation Army and SBDR representatives explored the successful cooperative relationship between the two groups in mass feeding efforts recently showcased in the response to Hurricane Helene, with Stice serving as a panelist. The current national model of cooperation between SBDR and The Salvation Army was piloted by SBTC DR and the Texas Division of The Salvation Army.

Dennis Belz, Colorado Baptist DR director, presented Resiliency in Disaster Relief, a workshop on preparing DR teams to recognize the signs of stress and trauma precipitated by disaster work.

Send Relief continuing national and international efforts

Thursday’s Roundtable featured the annual directors’ meeting, kicked off by the Send Relief report from Webb and Send Relief vice president Josh Benton.

Send Relief supports SBDR with resources, assistance in coordination and administration, national partner relations, and advocacy, the report noted. Benton highlighted some accomplishments of Send Relief in 2024:

• 53,503 volunteers mobilized
• 6,117 churches engaged
• 2 million people served
• More than 1 million people presented with the gospel
• Supported ministry centers serving communities and saw the development of 37 affiliate ministry centers in the last 18 months

Webb offered the following SBDR-specific 2024 statistics:

• 109 responses to disasters
• 110,603 ministry contacts
• 42,472 gospel presentations
• 4,204 professions of faith
• 120,396 volunteer days
• 83,239 homes helped with recovery
• 1,430,938 meals provided
• 50,604 showers provided
• 26,061 laundry loads washed

Praising SBDR’s work during hurricanes Helene and Milton, Webb said SBDR workers have been noticed at a national level for “consistent work in times of disaster.” Send Relief provided approximately $3 million of supplies and grants to the SBDR network for relief during Helene and Milton, he added.

SBDR workers during the 2024 hurricanes made 2,602 gospel presentations, saw 261 professions of faith, initiated 51,584 ministry contacts, served over 1 million meals, and completed 55,373 recovery jobs, Webb said.

SBDR continues to serve the survivors of Los Angeles area wildfires, with California and Arizona state teams engaged in chaplaincy and feeding. Fire clean-up is anticipated to begin this month, Webb said, noting that Send Relief is supporting DR efforts with funds and supplies.

Webb shared that over the last 12 months across the globe, Send Relief International has done some 420 projects in 78 countries, resulting in 933 new areas being opened to the gospel, impacting 1.54 million people, and involving more than 3,600 church partners. Food assistance has been provided to 686,000, and 684,000 have heard the gospel.

International aid has been provided in the Sudan, where over 40,000 have heard the gospel and 833 have come to Christ; the Middle East, where 11 new areas have been opened to the gospel and 2,400 have heard the gospel with 20 coming to faith; and Cuba, where 26 new areas have been opened to the gospel, over 943,000 have heard the gospel, and 821 have responded in faith. Send Relief has also supported relief efforts following flooding in Kenya and Brazil and wildfires in Chile.

Directors’ meeting

Following the Send Relief presentation, DR leaders heard reports from representatives of SBDR partners including Bobbi Geery and Jeff Jellets of the Salvation Army, Laurynn Myers of the Red Cross, Justin Harris of Home Depot, and April Wood and Bethany Piehl of National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD).

Webb introduced new state DR directors Bill LaFolette of Michigan and Keith Myer of Maryland/Delaware.

Highlights from the committee and regional reports included information on the establishment of the feeding chief position and the adoption of a new SBDR IMT manual. “These two policy matters were the most significant coming from the Roundtable,” Stice said.

Other major issues addressed included updates in financial policy and reporting, plans to develop materials offering long-term rebuilding guidance to states, technology, and regulations covering drone and UAV use during disasters.

Regional reports summarized the disasters each state faced, often involving multi-site responses.

The meeting closed with an address by Gaylon Moss, current chair of the SBDR steering committee and Missouri Baptist DR director. Moss, who also served as presiding officer of the Roundtable, urged leaders to “Hold the Net,” reminding them that SBDR is “not an entity” but a “network of Southern Baptist state conventions working together to bring help, hope, and healing to people in crisis.” Southern Baptist DR “brings order to chaos” and mobilizes people for mission,” Moss said.

SBDR will assist in Crossover events at the SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas this June, which will be followed by the second SBDR Roundtable of the year scheduled for June 12 in Grapevine at the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention offices, with SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice and SBTC DR hosting. The June 2026 Roundtable will take place in Orlando, Fla.

This article includes reporting from Baptist Press.