Chris Turner
It was shaping up to be a bad one. The National Weather Service tracked a developing storm that eventually became Hurricane Helene. It marched across the Caribbean, gaining momentum, and crashed into Florida as a Category 4 with 140 mph winds.
Earlier that day, Sept. 26, 2024, Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, put Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief (TBDR) teams on alert. Jones anticipated heavy rains from the Cumberland Plateau through East Tennessee. He never anticipated how quickly the situation would escalate or how dangerous it would become. No one did. But why would they? Hurricanes don’t normally hit Appalachia.
But this one did, and it hit hard on Sept. 27, dumping 25 to 30 inches of rain over a 48-hour period, resulting in more than 250 dead, many missing, and thousands displaced because of damaged or destroyed homes. Churches, schools, businesses, and at least 100 bridges – gone. The landscape forever altered, and the trauma forever seared into the minds of those who experienced it.
I’ve experienced numerous natural disasters, fortunately only one of them firsthand, an 8.4-magnitude earthquake just off the coast of Peru. It caused at least 74 deaths, 3,812 injuries, and, between earthquake and tsunami, destroyed 22,052 homes and damaged 33,570 others.
The others I’ve experienced were tornadoes, wildfires, flooding, and hurricanes, all as part of my job as a correspondent for the International Mission Board or in my current role as the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board’s director of communications and Baptist and Reflector editor. Two things have always impressed me about disaster sites: The comprehensive amount of damage caused in seconds, and the ever-present army of Southern or Tennessee Baptist DR volunteers on-site already helping people by the time I get there.
This 24-page special edition of the Baptist and Reflector is dedicated to those Tennessee Baptist men and women who have pulled on a blue TBDR T-shirt and a yellow hat to serve the people of East Tennessee as they recover from the greatest natural disaster to hit our state in our lifetimes, possibly ever.
And a year later Tennessee Baptist volunteers from across the state continue running toward the impact zone to help people dig out and rebuild, both their homes and their lives. They don’t just offer a shovel and a hammer, they offer a genuine hug of compassion, tear-saturated prayers of empathy born out of bearing another’s burdens, a listening ear, a Bible, and, most importantly, a gospel witness.
I love our TBDR volunteers. They are kind, humble, and have some of the greatest senses of humor. Some are downright characters! Mostly, they are a physical manifestation of the love of Christ, literally His hands serving others in His name. Not all heroes wear red capes. Sometimes they wear yellow hats.
The overwhelming challenge in creating this issue was deciding what to leave out. I relate a little to the Apostle John. If we were to report everything TBDR volunteers accomplished this year, there would not be enough issues of the Baptist and Reflector to record it all. I know we’ve left out great people, churches, and associations doing great work. I apologize in advance for not including everyone. Our intent is to offer a snapshot of how Tennessee Baptists working together through praying, giving, and going have had an impact both in this world and the next.
So, Tennessee Baptists, be proud, but get involved. It is still a long haul before our East Tennessee neighbors have fully recovered.
And to our Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers, this issue of the Baptist and Reflector is the tip of our yellow caps to you. Thank you for always running toward those in need. B&R
