PERRYVILLE – Storms in the South and Midwest left at least four people dead, damaged church buildings and led to deployment of Baptist disaster relief workers in four states, including Missouri.
The Feb. 28 storm system killed three people in Illinois and one in Perryville, Mo., where Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Disaster Relief immediately began offering help, hope and healing to the community. Approximately 55 MBC DR volunteers deployed to the Perryville area.
The bulk of the DR work in Missouri is cleanup and placing tarps on damaged roofs, said MBC DR specialist Dwain Carter.
There is “a lot of community support” in Perry County, Carter told Baptist Press, “neighbor helping neighbor, friends helping friends…. They just have a ‘let’s work together’ attitude to get it all done.”
Another MBC DR chainsaw team left this week for Carrolton, Texas.
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In Kentucky, at least four churches were damaged by storms March 1, the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s Kentucky Today news service reported. In northern Kentucky, First Baptist Church of Walton saw its 35-foot steeple lifted off a building and thrown onto a busy highway during the early morning commute.
Baptist DR teams in Illinois are being deployed to four separate regions of the state.
Working in the southern Illinois town of Vergennes, DR volunteer Don Kragness told local television station WSIL, “We are here, basically, because we love Jesus and we want to serve Him and the best way we know how to serve Him is to help people when they’re in need.”
Arkansas Baptist State Convention DR teams were deployed to five areas of the state, with work at one site yet unfinished.
One person in Arkansas professed faith in Christ as Lord and Savior as a result of the DR ministry.
“We don’t go out just to cut the trees and feed people,” said Randy Garrett, ABSC DR director. “We go out to minister to people and share the Word of Christ.”