Baptist and Reflector
Wes Jones, left, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, joins Butch Porch, right center, disaster relief unit leader for Woodland Baptist Church, Brownsville, and other DR volunteers from across West Tennessee at Philadelphia Baptist Church, Alexandria, La., prior to heading out to job sites in the area to clean up after Hurricane Laura. — Photo by Lonnie Wilkey
MOUNT JULIET — Most people were expecting one of this year’s hurricanes to be the 250th disaster relief response for Tennessee Baptists since their first response in 1978.
Instead, it will be a response to damages caused by the recent ice storm in Oklahoma.
“We thought Hurricane Zeta would be response No. 250, however, to this date no states have asked for assistance,” Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, said Oct. 30.
“On the other hand, at the same time Zeta was coming, an ice storm was hitting Oklahoma and fires continued to rage in Colorado and we have been invited to respond to these,” Jones said.
“We have a team made up of DR volunteers from Woodland Baptist Church (as well as other churches in the West Tennessee area) and JST Association that will be leaving Nov. 15 to go to Oklahoma.
“When they do, Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief will have responded to 250 recorded disasters,” Jones said.
“I am so grateful for the work that God has done through the disaster relief volunteers from Tennessee,” Jones added. “For 42 years they have worked to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who are going through a disaster.
“They have responded by providing food, comfort, physical help, encouragement and a myriad of other ways, but the most important thing they get to do is be used by God to see someone become a follower of Christ by trusting Him as Savior,” said Jones, who has been with the TBMB since 2015. B&R
