GLENALLEN – With a motto of “Providing Help, Hope and Healing,” volunteers with Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief strive to be a blessing to those who have suffered disasters in one form of another. But quite often, the volunteers are equally blessed by those they serve.
As an example, Joe Dayringer related that while he was working as the incident commander in Glenallen, Missouri, following a flood in August, he had the joy of helping a lady celebrate her 104th birthday.
“She was still serving as the organist at the church where we were staying,” he said. “The church family already had celebration plans, but we were blessed to be able to join in. It’s not every day that you get to help someone observe a 104th birthday.”
BETHANY – Susan Clark of Bethany was so grateful for the help she received from Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief that she made one of her “wee people houses”, complete with a yard sign and miniature chainsaw, as a tribute to MODR and the volunteers. (Facebook photo courtesy of Susan Clark)
John Mohler, Director of Missions for the Harrison Baptist Association and area director for Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief in northwest Missouri, also got a chance to celebrate a birthday. Mohler explained that while they were providing disaster relief following a derecho that hit the area, they discovered that one of the people impacted in Albany, Mo., was celebrating his 86th birthday alone.
“I had already spent time on the phone with him, sharing the love of Jesus and trying to provide encouragement,” Mohler said. “He had not been able to be at church for a long time because of his health issues and felt like people had forgotten him.
“To make matters worse, his wife had died six months earlier and his brother died within a few days of his wife’s death. Both their funerals were on the same day,” he continued. “Consequently, he was not able to go to his own brother’s funeral. I felt like he could really use some face-to-face support, so I sent Gary Tracy, who was serving as a chaplain that week, to pay him a visit.
“While he was there, he found out it was the man’s birthday and that none of his family could be there to help him celebrate. So, Gary brought him into the office, and we had a little birthday celebration for him,” he continued. “I sent one of the incident command team members over to the store to get some cupcakes and we just had our own celebration. He made the comment that our phone conversation and our little party had been such a blessing and brought him such hope. But it was really a blessing to all of us, as well.”
Perhaps the most unusual blessing, though, was provided by a woman that MODR assisted following the June 29th derecho in the Bethany area. As Mohler explained, the woman named Susan Clark was just one of the dozens of residents MODR assisted.
“Susan lives just outside of Bethany and is a member of Immanuel Baptist Church here in town. However, as a widow she was faced with a bigger project than she would be able to handle on her own. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get her place cleaned up. Fortunately, some friends and church members are part of Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief. So, they took a team over to Susan’s house and took care of the damage.
“The irony is that Susan has a unique hobby,” Mohler continued. “By day, she takes care of other people through home health. By night, she makes miniature houses. She calls them her ‘Wee people houses’. They are very detailed and literally look like any other house on your street.
Anyway, after all the cleanup had been completed and after time had passed, Susan shared through one of her creations the impact that MODR made in her life.”
Mohler said that the MODR tribute was not only a replica of her house, but it included a chain saw on the front lawn next to a MODR sign.
“It’s hard to believe the detail she puts into her wee people houses,” he said. “She uses a wide variety of materials, as well as things she finds that look like they might work in a scene. For example, the MODR sign in the yard was made from an emblem she found in The Pathway. She cut it out from the page and then glued it to a piece of cardboard to make the yard sign. I saw another house she recently made that had a safe in it. It was so realistic that you would have thought you could open it and find money inside.
“The birthday party and wee house are both great reminders that sometimes we all need brothers and sisters to share their talents with others to impact the lives of those around us. Now, whenever someone sees the “wee people house and asks about the Disaster Relief sign, they will get to hear the story of help, hope and healing.”
To learn more about Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief, go to https://www.facebook.com/MOBaptistsDR or mobaptist.org/dr.
GLENALLEN – While providing Disaster Relief here, DR volunteers (from left to right) Ellen Schaefer, Joe Dayringer and Doug Hager got to help Mildred Shell (center-right), the organist at First Baptist Church in nearby Marble Hill, celebrate her 104th birthday. (MODR photo)