By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
AREZZO, Italy — Prayer is the greatest thing people can do in response to the 6.2 magnitude earthquake which devastated several towns and villages in central Italy Aug. 24, said Tennessee native Charlie Worthy.
Worthy, who hails from Memphis and is a graduate of Union University, Jackson, and his wife Shannon are Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries in Arezzo in the Tuscany region of Italy. The Tennessee Baptist Convention has been in a partnership with evangelical believers in Italy since 2013. The Worthys coordinate volunteer teams from Tennessee that travel to Italy for missions opportunities.
In a communication to team leaders and others on Aug. 26, Worthy encouraged everyone to be in prayer “for the efforts of the search and rescue folks.” According to national news reports, the death toll has risen to more than 290 with people still unaccounted for.
“Having been a part of these (search and rescue) efforts in Texas, South Africa, and Mississippi, I know the physical and mental challenges it places on all,” Worthy wrote.
Charlie Worthy
“My prayers have not just been for the families who have suffered unimaginable loss but the aid workers who are giving 1,000 percent.”
Worthy added that he is also praying for government officials who are “making rapid decisions.”
The Tennessee native wrote that he has been in contact with churches and pastors near (within 30-60 kilometers) the epicenter.
“Their primary concern was for the people in their churches, who are safe and accounted for at this point. There are no known evangelical churches or groups in the towns hardest hit by the earthquake,” Worthy reported.
Worthy noted that as of Aug. 25 no one other than trained search and rescue people were allowed in the devastated areas. When that ban is lifted, Worthy said there may be opportunities for local evangelicals to provide assistance.
In response to numerous inquiries about what Baptists can do to assist, Worthy wrote that “one can never underscore the efforts of prayers.” For Baptists in the United States, Worthy encouraged them to “pray and learn more about the needs we have here in Italy.”
Kim Margrave, volunteer missions specialist for the TBC, agreed. ‘The first and foremost thing we can do is pray,” she said.
Margrave talked with Worthy on Aug. 29 and related that it may be possible that Tennessee Baptists could be called upon for hands-on ministry efforts related to the earthquake later this fall.
A fund to support Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief in this response has been set up and gifts can be given at tndisasterrelief.org to 2016 Italy Earthquake or by check made payable to the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Send the check to Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief, P.O. Box 728, Brentwood, TN 37024. Write on check the nature of any designation.
