JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Executive Board voted July 10 to begin the process of moving its Disaster Relief Operations Center from Marshall to a more centrally located site outside of Jefferson City that will provide more storage space, greater flexibility and better training opportunities.
The board authorized Executive Director John Yeats to begin negotiating with the owner of an 80×200-foot warehouse with attached office space on five acres of land.
“We need this kind of space. Our feeding unit alone is humungous,” he said. “I don’t know of anything like it in the Southern Baptist Convention. It takes a huge space just to unfold it. With the heating and air conditioning this facility already has, it gives us the room to open it up and actually do on-site training with a giant three-foot skillet or chainsaws instead of learning by PowerPoint. This will allow hands-on training.”
While the Marshall facility is pure storage, Yeats said the proposed building could be used for more than a parking garage for Disaster Relief trailers.
“It offers great value to us,” he said. “We have the potential to permanently house our archives and move some of our items from the storage spaces we have at the Baptist Building [to the other Jefferson City property], so we can be better stewards. This will be more than just a Disaster Relief space.”
Yeats said it also allows a permanent space for trailers currently parked at the Baptist Building, thus freeing up more parking space.
The board authorized putting the current Marshall property on the market should the purchase of the property in the Jefferson City area be completed. The board authorized the funds for the project out of MBC reserves with the stipulation that proceeds from the sale of the Marshall property replenish those reserves.