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JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—As Florida Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers continue to come alongside community residents impacted by Category 4 Hurricane Helene—and with Hurricane Milton now setting its sights on Florida’s west coast—all Florida Baptists are being encouraged to join relief efforts by giving, going and praying.
Less than 12 hours after Hurricane Helene’s Sept. 26 landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region, David Coggins, FBDR director, said that volunteers began transporting and setting up equipment and resources at First Baptist Church in Perry, which is serving as the disaster relief command center. From that command center, hundreds of volunteers have been working with partners, such as The Salvation Army and Southern Baptists’ Send Relief, to provide meals, damage assessment, clean-up and recovery, and spiritual care and witness as they help community residents address immense needs in Hurricane Helene’s aftermath.
Already, FBDR volunteers have prepared 23,963 meals, completed 247 jobs in clean-up and recovery, shared the Gospel 169 times, with 10 individuals making professions of faith.
Because of Hurricane Helene’s strength and size, recovery will be a long-term effort throughout the state. Disaster relief teams will continue to serve “as long as needed,” Coggins said.
Now, less than two weeks after Helene’s landfall, Hurricane Milton, which intensified to Category 5 strength on Monday (Oct. 7), is threatening Florida’s west coast with life-threatening storm surge and strong winds. Hurricane Milton’s landfall is projected to be Wednesday (Oct. 9), and residents in the storm’s path are being urged to prepare and evacuate if possible. Disaster relief leaders are monitoring the progress of Hurricane Milton and will be prepared to respond as needed.
If Hurricane Milton makes landfall as projected, it will be a major blow to Floridians who have already experienced three hurricanes in the past 13 months: Hurricane Idalia, Aug. 30, 2023; Hurricane Debby, Aug. 1; and Hurricane Helene, Sept. 26, with all three hurricanes making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend.
Coggins understands that Florida residents are hurricane-weary, and he also knows firsthand how responders are growing fatigued in recovery efforts. Still, he said, “We stand ready to share the hope of Christ.”
Steven Ruff, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Perry, acknowledged, in an online video, that three hurricanes in Florida’s Big Bend region in 13 months “does take its toll … Fatigue has set in around here. Everyone is getting tired.”
In an online prayer, Stephen Rummage, Florida Baptists’ executive director-treasurer, prayed for churches and residents who have been “hit so hard three times in 13 months by storms,” asking God to “strengthen them when they are just worn out and stretched thin. God, give them your supernatural strength.”
This article originally appeared at flbaptist.org.
