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V-22. SAVING GRACE
To me, faith is not just a noun but also a verb. Jimmy Carter, Living Faith
Beacons Of Hope No discussion of the recovery process could be complete without looking at the role the churches played. In my opinion, there aren't enough superlative words to describe the work of the faith community in the response and recovery. Their responses were exemplary in all phases--emergency, relief, and recovery. I completely agree with the assessment of Wilbur Litwiller, a regional director for Mennonite Disaster Service: "If the faith community doesn't work, many victims of disasters are lost." It would be almost impossible to raise enough money to pay for the labor and other services they provide. Almost every church left standing in the areas hit by the storm, as well as dozens on the outskirts of the communities, was a beacon of hope. They instantly sprang into action, becoming stores and restaurants, as well as places where one's needs could be made known and addressed. Not a single church that was damaged made any move toward repairing its buildings until the relief phase had ended and they had done everything possible to meet the immediate needs of the survivors. All their normal activities were deferred until the crisis was past. Let me recount the efforts of a few of the congregations in the Rock Creek area. On The Spot Union Hill Baptist sustained $80,000 worth of damage and 37 of its families' homes were either lost or heavily damaged. Rev. Howard Thompson, his wife, and nearby members were out with flashlights in the dark immediately after the storm passed over. Unable to clear the road in front of the church where the fallen tree lay and the deputy sheriff was trapped, they set about checking on neighbors and parishioners. As soon as the lights came on 30 minutes later, they brought food from their homes and began preparing meals for the workers and victims. I will digress a moment here to assuage any lingering curiosity about the fate of the deputy sheriff. It took several hours for people to cut away the tree in which he and his car were entangled. Able to move his hands, he kept in radio contact with his dispatcher, who warned him that a second tornado was headed their way. Turning on his loudspeaker, the officer told the people to leave and take cover--but everyone kept working to free him. The tornado passed over without touching down, and the deputy sheriff was at last extricated and taken to the hospital. He was dismissed later that night. The intense relief effort at Union Hill Baptist Church continued for six weeks, during which three home-cooked meals a day were served in their fellowship hall and delivered to many families at their temporary sites. A well-organized "grocery store" was set up, and clothing filled offices and classrooms. Money funneled in from all over and was dispersed according to need, to anyone in need, and without respect to their church affiliation or whether they even lived in Rock Creek. Bethel Baptist in Pleasant Grove, about ten miles away, spearheaded the collection of supplies and channeled them to Union Hill. Two refrigerated trucks were parked outside for perishable food. Countless hours were spent cooking, cleaning up, and stocking shelves and organizing donations. One couple from Florida, who had previously owned a thrift store, came in their RV and spent a week lending their professional touch to the operation. Toward the end of the critical period, meals were tapered to two, then one a day, and finally discontinued when it was apparent that most people were able to provide for themselves. However, a storehouse of goods was maintained for anyone who needed them for a full year afterward. Concord Baptist, about a mile from the storm zone, also mobilized immediately. Though they soon stopped serving meals because of duplication of effort, they continued to dispense goods, and their building became the center for numerous storm-related services and meetings. Every Little Bit Helps Though the amount of donated items is sometimes overwhelming, particularly in respect to clothing, they are vital to the survivors--if they can be convinced to take them. From a monetary standpoint, they are invaluable. Remember that these people have lost everything--right down to their underwear. The money they would otherwise spend to replace their clothing and household furnishings and restock their pantries, as well as ongoing purchases of food, toiletries, laundry detergent, light bulbs, etc., can be directed instead toward the task of rebuilding. Even those who had insurance quickly found that it did not begin to cover all their expenses. Almost as important is the energy that is conserved by not having to run to stores and battle crowds. Survivors need every ounce of available energy to cope with the myriad facets of recovery and rebuilding. In the initial weeks, people could eat their meal and pick up what they needed in one stop, grabbing some moral support, as well. The Little Church With The Big Heart On the outskirts of Rock Creek sits the West Concord Church of Christ (50 members), whose building sustained $90,000 damage. Though none of their own parishioners were affected, they held services in the church basement and concentrated on dispensing help in any form they could. A year later, Rev. and Mrs. Pilgrim's eyes still teared as they spoke about that terrible night, exacerbated for them by Rev. Pilgrim being in Georgia in a revival while Mrs. Pilgrim anxiously awaited the arrival of their daughter-in-law and two young grandsons who were en route from Tennessee. The Pilgrims pulled out a map of the storm path and showed me where their daughter had missed intersecting the eye of the storm by no more than 10 minutes. Armed with maps and accompanied by volunteers from other churches, members began canvassing the Rock Creek area to find out who needed help and to spread the word that they were available for assistance. As their efforts became known, they learned of situations by word of mouth and other churches and agencies referred people to them. In addition to donated food and clothing, the church was the repository and distributor of a tractor-trailer load of blankets and Family Food Boxes (packed with staples to feed a family of four for a week) delivered by the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Besides supplies, monetary donations were also pouring into the West Concord Church. A former member who lived in St. Louis called and said her congregation would send $10,000, but when the check arrived it was for $25,000! The Pilgrims' daughter, who lived in Mississippi, spread the word over the Internet and donations began arriving from all over the country. Mrs. Pilgrim literally worked herself to exhaustion coordinating their church's relief efforts. Little known before the storm, the Church of Christ's exceptional response has drawn it into the community, and its members will be forever remembered not just for the money sent by Church of Christ members nationwide, but for the loving way in which it was dispensed--not only to provide appliances and furniture (such as Dorothy received) to as many people as they could reach, but also to help people with rent, motels, car rentals, clean-up, roof repairs, and even something as small as a new pair of shoes for little Scott to attend church, personally delivered by Jan Smith, their "delivery angel." The nearby May town Church of Christ (90 members) mirrored West Concord's efforts. Between both churches, close to a half million dollars in goods and services was dispersed! Coping With Faith One morning I visited with Mrs. Carolyn Staggs, wife of the pastor of the Church of God, which had been so profoundly affected by the storm. We met in their rented fifth wheel trailer situated next to the damaged parsonage. She and her husband were doing their best to cope with the loss of six of their members as well as the overwhelming needs of their parishioners. Pastor Staggs spent literally hundreds of hours in those initial weeks counseling and supporting members, as well as trying to meet their needs in concrete ways such as paying their insurance deductibles. The need was staggering, and that didn't take into account the complete rebuilding of the Family Life Center and the major repairs to the church and parsonage. Their faith and having the entire community behind them sustained them through their long ordeal. The Gentle Giant Three miles down the road from Rock Creek is Faith Baptist Church, shepherded by the "gentle giant" Brother Steve, who was extremely frustrated the morning after the tornado struck because he and members of his congregation were not allowed into the storm site to help. The next day Ed Cruce, Director of Missions for the Bessemer Baptist Association, called and requested that Faith Baptist serve as the volunteer headquarters for the Rock Creek and Oak Grove areas. Brother Steve was more than willing, but having never done anything like that before, he asked: "Lord, how are we going to handle this?" The answer appeared to be: follow your intuition, shoot from the hip, fly by the seat of your pants. If your heart is in the right place, the right answers and moves will come naturally. As Brother Steve described, much of what he remembered of those next few weeks was a continuous blur of answering phones, gathering information and assessing needs, assigning people to jobs and shuttling them back and forth. The appropriate people or supplies always appeared when they were needed. In addition to organizational and assessment help from Association pastors and volunteers, three groups of Baptists came from South Carolina because "you were here for us when Hugo hit," and people from Florida and California showed up to lend a hand. A man from South Carolina who was in Birmingham on business drove over to the church in his business suit because "he was led to come help." He stayed for three days, combining his knowledge about equipment and his organizational skills to guide the early coordination efforts. One man arrived with a wrecker and donated his services for two days, during which time he extracted Brenda and Lonnie's vans from the trees and ravine. Another provided walkie-talkies when the cell phones were overloaded, so those who were in the field determining needs could radio the information back to the church. Wanda Barnhill from the Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church organized the telephone crew of 12-14 women and oversaw all the paperwork. The toughest thing for Brother Steve to cope with was the bureaucracy and red tape of the governmental and relief agencies; he often viewed their guidelines as exclusive, overly rigid, and inequitable. Wherever possible, he circumvented those entities by garnering resources through church and private avenues and channeling them directly to where they were needed. As I have previously indicated, Brother Steve was an omnipresent dispenser of comfort and hope and a dispatcher of swift relief. Without him, many people surely would have languished. There is almost no one in the Rock Creek and Oak Grove areas who was not touched in some way by Brother Steve's compassionate heart and pragmatic action. Brother Steve is quick to defer the praise to others. He gives credit to all the Baptist churches in the Bessemer Association who were invaluable help, and special kudos to Ed Cruce, not only for his leadership, but also for his role as "the money line," and to Johnny Fox, State Director for Baptist Disaster Relief, "who was our supply line for everything under the sun--from portable bathrooms to chain saw oil" and the liaison to the federal and state agencies. He also acknowledges all the other denominations whose pastors and members helped. "Without all of the loving people, I could not have done anything. Love made the difference!" In fact, every minister I spoke with agreed that the byproduct of the churches working together to respond to the great human need created by the tornado was that the barriers between them melted away, giving rise to a fresh understanding and appreciation of each other's unique role and of their common mission. Prepared For Disaster In addition to the response and relief efforts, people from the faith community representing almost all denominations were often the key leaders and mediators of the various committees and groups, as well as the work force that wielded hammers and offered on-site counsel and comfort. In Birmingham, and at all the other disasters we worked at, we were continually amazed at the extent of the role played by the churches. Most denominations or faith groups have some form of outreach ministry for emergencies, and many have highly delineated national disaster response and recovery networks. Spearheaded and directed by Elder Joe Dudley, the relatively new Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort has made a substantial contribution to disaster response in the United States with its highly organized distribution of emergency food and supplies, beds, furniture and appliances since its official organization in the spring of 1991. Supported by donations from individuals, churches, corporations and other non-profit agencies nationwide, Churches of Christ Disaster Relief has disseminated $35 million in aid to disaster victims in the eleven years since its inception. In the summer of 2000, we visited their 48,500-square-foot center in Nashville, touring the well-stocked facility and worked alongside some of the regular volunteers (several in their seventies) readying supplies to be included in the Family Food Packs, Personal Care, Infant Care, and Cleaning Kits. Such love and thought go into this ministry that food boxes are packed to appeal to different regional tastes, and a personal letter of encouragement and a Bible are included in each. Because of their efficient operation, a truck can be loaded in two hours and on its way for distribution by a local Church of Christ in an affected area. In addition to material aid, follow-up ministry and support are provided. Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) is usually one of the first to begin repair and rebuilding efforts, and the last to leave. Local Mennonite groups will be active in the response and relief phases, and move swiftly into repair and rebuilding work before that phase has officially begun. Once an unmet needs process is in place, they work in coordination with it. They also work in conjunction with the Red Cross, providing the labor to rebuild homes for the recipients of FEMA maximum grants. MDS, organized 50 years ago, is divided into four regions in the United States and one in Canada. Each state has a unit and a state coordinator, and each church has a unit and a contact person. MDS, which worked primarily in the Oak Ridge community across from McDonald Chapel, made a two-year commitment to work in the Birmingham area, continually rotating in volunteers and completing 136 jobs--from rebuilding roofs and decks to constructing new homes. As they do during any sustained effort, a housing facility was obtained for their volunteers and an on-site project director provided for coordination. MDS' special emphasis is on "helping those least able to help themselves." Another Mennonite group known as Christian Aid Ministries were the rebuilders in McDonald Chapel. Even after the anniversary celebration, it was the Mennonites who put together a team to build Becky and Greg (Dorothy's grandchildren) a home. Without their support, it may have been a year or two more before little Scott and Jonathan had a place in which to feel settled and secure. All of the Birmingham community was deeply touched and challenged by the steadfast example of faith in action set by the Mennonites. The Methodists, likewise, are active in all phases of disaster response, and are especially strong in building skills. Supported by UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), which is funded by churchwide special offerings, the Methodists will send a person to be at the disaster site full-time to maintain a stable presence in the community and assure continuity in their efforts. The Methodists were assigned to Edgewater, a relatively poor mining community that did not function cohesively before the tornado and was struggling greatly afterward. In all, approximately 1000 United Methodists worked anywhere from a day to several weeks at rebuilding. A contingent of Methodist NOMADS, the equivalent of Habitat Care-A-Vanners, also pitched in for several weeks. After the anniversary celebrations, I visited Rick Connelly (who had supervised the construction of the Habitat houses built by the Methodists) while he was working at one of the last homes being built in Edgewater, and got a feel for the positive influence of the Methodists' presence in the community. People were constantly waving or stopping by to talk. It was clear that the Methodists were not merely building homes, but building up people and modeling what good, supportive relationships are all about. The Church of the Brethren, though a very small denomination, also makes a large contribution to relief efforts around the world. Every Brethren district has a disaster response team, with overall coordination taking place from their headquarters at Church World Service in New Windsor, Maryland. Each district is responsible for raising its own funds which, in addition to paying the costs of their team's transportation and lodging (usually donated), contributes to the church-wide Emergency Disaster Fund. In Birmingham, nearly 100 Brethren volunteers served at least one week, some returning for a second tour of duty. Their efforts were concentrated on rebuilding Pratt City. At the volunteer appreciation dinner we sat with four members of the Shenandoah District from the area of Harrisonburg, Virginia, who when they returned would plunge into the final work for their seventh annual Disaster Relief Auction. When I received a copy of the auction catalog, I realized it was no small undertaking. Held at the county fairgrounds, in previous years they had raised anywhere from $111,000 to $151,000 auctioning everything from livestock to quilts to handmade furniture and much more. Their 1999 effort netted over $140,000. Eldon Zimmerman, the LDR Coordinator for the Lutheran Ministries of Alabama, had already had a busy spring making weekly trips to southern Alabama as a member of the Interfaith Committee responding to severe flooding there, when he was asked to coordinate the Lutheran response in Birmingham. The decision was made to join forces with the Episcopal Church, creating Lutheran/Episcopal Disaster Response. The Episcopal Church provided administrative support and the office out of which was coordinated the work of 400 Lutheran volunteers who contributed approximately 4000 hours to the recovery. They shared oversight responsibilities in McDonald Chapel with the Mennonites, took down one house, financed the building of a second, and built a home in Edgewater for one of the maximum grant families. Countless hours were also spent counseling survivors and their families, a specialty of Lutheran Ministries. The Episcopal Church helped provide training for counselors. With money provided by the Lutheran Aid Association and the Episcopalians, a tool trailer was purchased and furnished with tools and equipment. The two church organizations contributed approximately $100,000 each, and were so pleased with the results of their combined effort that they have decided to continue the partnership to meet future disaster needs. Other churches played essential roles, as well. The Presbyterians coordinated the housing of out-of-town volunteers--no small task. The Adventists organized and staffed the warehouse at the fairgrounds--first for emergency supplies, then for building materials. The Salvation Army provided money for building materials, canteen service to volunteers in the field, and clothing and furnishings for survivors. Catholic Charities worked on an ongoing, consistent basis with families in need, giving them supportive counsel as well as providing furniture and other assistance. The Jewish community was active in the overall process, serving on committees, providing volunteers, locating resources and supplying outstanding social workers. Church World Service (CWS), with an organizational structure similar to FEMA's, helps with creating and coordinating interfaith efforts, provides seed money for that purpose, and also sends blankets and clean-up kits when needed. CWS contributed $3000 to the Birmingham Interfaith Recovery Group. The monumental role played by the Baptist church has already been made evident. Although not active in Birmingham because they were engaged elsewhere, the Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief volunteer mission program is also highly organized and effective. Disaster volunteers complete a training program, which includes general disaster relief information and hands-on training to operate chain saws and other equipment. Each state has a Disaster Relief unit and director. Nationwide, Disaster Relief has built more than 220 mobile mass feeding, recovery, communications, and child care units, including airlift kitchens. Our faith communities deserve the highest praise--"Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matt. 25:21 NIV) |
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