Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

DR VOLUNTEERS ASSISTING WITH VACCINATIONS IN MEMPHIS

Baptist and Reflector

MEMPHIS — It was not the typical request for help, but Tennessee Disaster Relief volunteers have responded to a request to assist with COVID-19 vaccinations in Memphis.

“It is one of our most unusual responses,” acknowledged Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

He noted it is unusual for government agencies to request help from volunteer organizations, but it was necessary to help speed up the vaccination process to get more Americans vaccinated as quickly as possible, Jones said. [Read more…]

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DR LEADER: ‘RECOVERY IS JUST BEGINNING’

By David Dawson
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

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 for a time of prayer. — Photos by Lonnie Wilkey

FRANKLIN — More than a year after a series of tornadoes ripped through parts of Middle Tennessee, many people in the affected areas are still hurting. 

And Tennessee Baptists are still helping.

Undaunted by the enormity of the workload, Tennessee Baptist disaster relief teams have remained in action, continuing to assist those in need. And there’s still a long way to the finish line. 

“The truth is, for many people, the recovery is just beginning — and our efforts are ongoing,” said Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. 

“Given the distance the storm track covered, you knew that it was going to take some time for residents to recover from what happened. So, we were prepared for it to be a long process.”  [Read more…]

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TOP 10 MOST-READ STORIES OF 2020

Baptist and Reflector Staff

FRANKLIN — The Baptist and Reflector website, launched in 2016, is the digital counterpart to the print edition.

The site inlcudes stories, information and photos that are published in the print edition of the B&R, and is also the home for breaking news that pertains to Tennessee Baptists.

This past year, the B&R website experienced its biggest year to date (see below for a look at the increases in numbers).

The chart below recaps the most-read stories from 2020 based on website views.

Spotted on the list are feature stories, hard-news stories and opinion columns. Interestingly, some of the stories were published before the start of 2020, but still received a high amount of views this year. [Read more…]

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2020: A YEAR TO REMEMBER

Ministry created by tornadoes, pandemic dominate year’s top stories

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org 

FRANKLIN — The year 2020 began on a positive note with giving through the Cooperative Program at a high level for the first four months of the fiscal year and after a record-breaking year for gifts through the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions in 2019.

Then came March — and life turned upside down, not only for the nation, but for Tennessee Baptist churches as well. [Read more…]

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TENNESSEE DR VOLUNTEERS EXPERIENCE ‘DIVINE APPOINTMENTS’ WHILE SERVING

By Jane Rodgers
Correspondent, Southern Baptist TEXAN

Mykel Newman of Pineville, La., gets a ride on a skid steer with Tommy Wilson of Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief. — Photo by Karen Wilson

ALEXANDRIA, La. — Pummeled first by the category 4 Hurricane Laura on Aug. 27, then inundated by torrential rains from Hurricane Delta only six weeks later, Louisiana endured a double hit prompting a multi-state response by Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers — including DR teams from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention — that is bearing fruit.

DR crews serving in the Bayou State after Hurricane Laura paused work as Delta churned its way inland. Volunteers returned to the field Oct. 11, as a SBTC DR administrative team assumed responsibility from Louisiana Baptist DR for coordinating SBDR recovery efforts based at Philadelphia Baptist in Alexandria.

Volunteers from Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Louisiana reestablished operations in Alexandria, with additional teams from Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Alaska and Texas’ Jacksonville College expected to rotate in, said Wally Leyerle, SBTC DR associate and incident leader. Leyerle told the Texan much of the work based in Alexandria is a continuation of Laura recovery efforts and was expected to wrap up on Oct. 31.

Divine appointments

For volunteers like Tennessee’s Karen and Tommy Wilson, the deployment has brought unexpected blessings. The couple returned to Alexandria after serving two weeks there following Laura and spending a week at home in Martin, awaiting Delta. They are members of First Baptist Church, Dresden. [Read more…]

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DR TEAMS PROVIDE ‘A STRIKE FORCE’ OF LOVE

By Bob Holeman
Retired journalist, Winnfield, La.

In August, Hurricane Laura dealt havoc to Winn Parish, leaving a tangle of downed trees, damaged homes and a spaghetti mix of wires, broken power poles and transformers that left us without power and in a communication blackout.

Our home got power back after 10 days but it was two weeks before our internet and TV service was restored.  We then tuned in to see what damage Laura had wrought but found no coverage of a storm that had devastated Louisiana, for she was then two  weeks old.  There was scant coverage even of the wildfires that continued to rage along the Pacific west coast.

Instead the media, both left and right, seemed to focus their airtime on the acts of social and racial hatred that boiled over in a number of metro areas.  They’d like to hold that this is what America is today: a Republic founded on the Judeo-Christian ethic whose wheels have fallen off after some 250 years; a nation that has turned from God and is so flawed with discrimination that it can’t be fixed. [Read more…]

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DISASTER RELIEF CONTINUES TO MEET NEEDS LOCALLY, NATIONALLY

By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

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. — Photos by Lonnie Wilkey

MOUNT JULIET — In September Wes Jones celebrated his fifth anniversary as disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

To say the former Southern Baptist missionary (along with his wife Pam) and director of missions in Iowa has been busy over those five years would be an understatement.

The humorous part is that during the interview process for the position he was told that there were not that many callouts. Most of his time would be spent training DR volunteers and having them prepared when needed. “I was told things would be pretty mellow,” he recalled with a grin.

Instead, “hectic” best describes the last five years of Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief. 

When Hurricanes Laura and Sally struck in late  August and early September, it marked the 78th and 79th DR responses by Tennessee volunteers over the past five years. “What an adventure it has been.” [Read more…]

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‘LAKE CHARLES GRIT’ TESTED BY TWO HURRICANES IN WEEKS

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers planned to prepare 3,500 meals for distribution Monday at The Bayou Church in Lafayette to serve those impacted by Hurricane Delta. — Submitted photo

LAKE CHARLES, La. — Trinity Baptist Church senior pastor Steve James calls it “Lake Charles grit,” an ability to persevere during hardship on top of hardship. “Grit up” is the local rallying cry after Hurricanes Laura and Delta hit western Louisiana just weeks apart.

“We had one hand tied behind our back, and now somebody blindsided us,” James said on Oct. 12 after Hurricane Delta, a Category 2 storm, hit Louisiana’s western Gulf coast Oct. 9, compounding damage wrought six weeks earlier by Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) and Send Relief are coordinating responses from several state disaster relief teams. In coordination with Southern Baptist partners, local churches and associations, they are repairing homes, clearing debris, serving meals and sharing the Gospel. While numbers vary, SBDR has reported more than 400 salvation decisions since Laura’s cleanup began, with more than 300 of those at Trinity.

One death has been attributed to Hurricane Delta, an 86-year-old man in St. Martin Parish who died while refueling a generator in his shed, Louisiana officials said Sunday. [Read more…]

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DR TEAMS CALLED TO ACTION AFTER ‘SALLY’

Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist Mission Board disaster relief teams are being called on to assist in the recovery efforts from Hurricane Sally. 

TBMB disaster relief specialist Wes Jones sent out an e-mail on Sept. 19 that alerted DR leaders that Florida has requested chain saw, tarping and flood recovery teams.

Jones asked that DR leaders from those teams contact either him (wjones@tnbaptist.org) or DR assistant Elizabeth Holmes (eholmes@tnbaptist.org) for more information.    [Read more…]

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TENNESSEE DR VOLUNTEERS RESPOND TO HURRICANE LAURA

Editor’s note: The story was updated on Sept. 21.

By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Disaster Relief volunteers work on house where a tree had fallen during Hurricane Laura.

WINNFIELD, La. — Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are in action, ministering in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura.

Volunteers began arriving over Labor Day weekend, with the first team stationed at First Baptist Church, Winnfield, La.

On Sept. 19, the Tennessee Baptist DR operations moved to Philadelphia Baptist Church Horseshoe Drive, Alexandria, La.  The DR operation in this area included teams from Weakley County Baptist Association and Brainerd Hills Baptist Church, Chattanooga.

Through Sept. 17, Tennessee DR volunteers responding to Hurricane Laura had compiled more than 3,000 work hours, and completed more than 60 chain saw jobs.

There have been 267 professions of faith during the response efforts from all DR teams (Tennessee and others), noted Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

“That’s the number that is most important to us,” Jones said.

Though Winnfield is 125 miles north of where Laura came ashore in Lake Charles, it was still a Category 2 hurricane when it hit the area, said Gary Brooks, a DR volunteer from Knox County Baptist Association and a member of Glenwood Baptist Church, Powell.

Brooks, who is serving as the team’s “Blue Cap” told the Baptist and Reflector on Sept. 9 that the team has been working in Dodson, about 10 miles from Winnfield. “This place is absolutely torn up,” he said. “If you drive down any street, every second or third house has a tree in the middle of it.” [Read more…]

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