RUIDOSO, N.M. – Sometimes people have a bad day and then sometimes they have a “really bad day.” For 207 homeowners in the mountains of southern New Mexico, it was a really bad day on April 12th.
A windstorm blew in with 90 MPH winds and knocked down a power line. That in turn sparked a wildfire across the mountains full of dry timber. Before the fire was extinguished, 207 homes were destroyed by the blazing fires.
Missouri Baptists heard of the tragic situation and responded with help, hope and healing as they sent a team of six Missouri Disaster Relief (MODR) volunteers in early May.
The group from across southern and central Missouri worked for a week there doing what is called fire recovery work. They sift through the ashes of a burned out home and remove the debris of the destroyed homesite. When they finish they leave a cleared foundation which can then be the starting point for the homeowners to have a rebuilt home.
Tom Mallot was the “Blue Hat” supervisor of the crew of six Missourians who served there in Ruidoso.
He said, “It was called the McBride fire.” The arc from the downed power line caused the fire. It is about 150 miles north of Carlsbad and it burned out the homes, leaving mostly debris and ashes.
“We try to leave them a clean home site. That gives them a shot of hope as they can then start the rebuilding process.”
“Most of the homes were completely destroyed,” he added.
The MODR team was able to complete three homes, take down one damaged tree and began work on four more homes before they left and turned the work over to another team.
Asked if the team was able to minister to any homeowners personally, Malott said most of the homes did not have the owners coming around, but one family was on site and they ministered to them for two days.
He said, “We always minister as we go into gas stations, restaurants and grocery stores in the community.”
Malott added, “People come up to us and see the gold shirts and recognize we are there to help them. We try to let them know we are not just a work detail but we are there to minister to them. The work is what gets us there to minister.”
He said a few years ago a flood situation in the St. Joseph, Mo., area had them coming and going to a convenience store to get ice for a week and a lady in the store asked them about their work. They were able to share the Lord with her as a result of the work they had been doing in her community.
MODR leaders like to point out that the ministry they do in DR work earns them the right to share Jesus with the disaster survivors. They like to say “we transform lives and communities with the gospel by bringing help, hope and healing.”
Malott added, “We have to be positive in all that we do. Sometimes this work is frustrating and nasty work. Some of the ashes are still hot as we sift them.”
He didn’t seem to mind, though. The contact they had with the people in the community was the payoff for the long hours of hard work in the burned out home sites.
Malott is a farmer living near Doniphan. He brought several people from Doniphan and they were joined by other volunteers from Ozark, Rolla and Clark communities in Missouri.
Gaylon Moss, MODR director, said, “I am grateful for this team who was willing to travel this far to do this meaningful work.”