By Brian Blackwell
Baptist Message

DRY CREEK, La. — The winds were still howling as Hurricane Laura blew through Dry Creek Baptist Camp Thursday morning Aug. 27, when camp director Todd Burnaman fielded a welcomed phone call from the pastor of Horeb Baptist Church in Gretna, La., asking how he and his people could lend assistance.

The members of Horeb Baptist, a Hispanic congregation that stayed at the camp for 33 days when they evacuated during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, were excited about the chance to repay the camp’s leaders for their kindness. The group of more than 30, along with staff from a camp operated by Florida College in Tampa, Fla., helped clear trees and other debris on the property during Labor Day weekend.

“We’ve remained good friends with Horeb Baptist 15 years later, and they have been a part of the Dry Creek family since,” Burnaman told the Baptist Message. “When Pastor David Rodriguez was on the line the Thursday of the storm asking if they could come, I didn’t hesitate to tell him to come on.” [Read more…]

By Will Hall
Baptist Message executive editor

ALEXANDRIA, La. – While racial tensions continue to claim national headlines, the multi-state disaster relief response to one of the largest hurricanes ever to make landfall in the country is serving as an opportunity to build goodwill between ethnic groups in storm-affected parts of Louisiana.

Hurricane Laura came ashore in the state with 150 mph winds and maintained its ferocity far inland, with tropical storm winds of 50 mph, gusting to 85 mph, recorded in Alexandria, about 130 miles north from where the eye of the storm struck the coast. The winds knocked out power to 579,000 homes and businesses in the state, but the total devastation in terms of lost homes and businesses has not yet been tallied.

In Central Louisiana, comprising 10 parishes, Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief, alone, has received 900 calls for help regarding damaged homes and property during the first week after the storm. The enormous response, especially by a predominately white Southern Baptist Disaster Relief organization, has alleviated many physical needs, but it also has brought some racial healing.

MAGNOLIA STATE CONVERT

Bob Thomas, a member of Highland Baptist Church in Senatobia, Mississippi, experienced a moment of grace and growth on Saturday morning. [Read more…]