They didn’t come back after the storm finally exhausted itself and the sun shone. In the days, weeks and months after the rain and the wind had stopped, the people that had lived in those houses, had raised their children and their children’s children, lived, laughed and loved in those houses, still didn’t return. It was a ghost town, with one, maybe two people living on an entire block.
The church that was the heart of that neighborhood still lay in ruin, and the bell that had heralded the good news of weddings, births and the Sunday “go-to-meetin’” time, lay on the sidewalk in front of the little white church. For the Baptist pastor, the bell had become a personal crusade; for without that bell in place, there was no reason for the people of his town to come back… no one was there to greet them. The devastation, the death and the loss still too evident. So, he prayed, as he had done for all those days and weeks and months, for God to bring him help.
And then, on an ordinary Wednesday, a van pulled up in front of his church, and a Mud-Out Team climbed out and surveyed the damage to his little church, and his neighborhood. One of the strangers approached him and extended his hand to the stunned pastor, “My name is Tony. Can we help you with anything?” Smiling widely, the pastor grasped Tony’s hand and said, “yes sir, I need help getting that bell (pointing to the 150 pound bell on the sidewalk), up there”, gesturing to the 30 foot steeple behind him.
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Tony, hands on hips, looked at the bell and then up to the tower, and smiled. “You got it. Hey guys!” he called over his shoulder and 2 of the other men joined them to plot and plan how to rehang the bell in the steeple of the 120-year-old church. They all went up and down the stairs 3 times ensuring the steeple was sound, the cross-beam was intact and all the parts of the bell were accounted for. The easy part was carrying it up the cramped, curving staircase. The hard part was wedging 4 men and a bell into the cramped tower, and then lifting it carefully and holding it precisely in place so it could be hung properly.
It took them over an hour in the August heat until finally, the bell was hung and balanced properly. Soaked and sweaty, they staggered down the stairs and into the relative cool of the foyer where the bell pull came through the ceiling. “Ready?” Tony asked as he handed the bell pull to the pastor; and with childlike glee, the pastor wrapped his hands around the rope and paused. “Will you go and watch to see if anyone hears it?” looking at his helpers. As the men stepped out into the sunshine, the bell rang out, clear and joyful, and when one moment there was silence and loneliness, suddenly people appeared, out of their homes, and from around the corner. And the bell continued to ring… and with it, the sound of hope beckoning people home.
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\muh-GHYE-ver\ - to make, form or repair something with what is conveniently on hand (Miriam-Webster, 2020)
In the story about the bell and the Baptist church, it’s important to understand what happened the day before…..
The team landed at the closest airport to the disaster zone and drove 4 hours to the heart of the destruction. An abandoned warehouse had been donated by a local businessman to house the incoming team, with some raw materials, food and water locked inside to assist in the efforts.
But what the team didn’t count on: other than that, the warehouse was empty with no electricity, running water or amenities of any sort. And the surrounding area had been subject to looting. So the priorities were to build bunk beds inside and a high fence outside to protect the donated lumber, food and water that would be used by the team and given to the survivors in the coming week.
The Mud-Out/Debris Removal team became a construction and furniture fabrication team in a matter of minutes. Using only hand tools and prior expertise, the team quickly built enough beds for everyone and surrounded the perimeter with a fence to shield the resources from the outside world. These skills are not currently found in any CSBCDR certification program, but are critically necessary in ALL disaster deployments, be they fire, flood or earthquake.
Don’t be shy about using whatever is handy to provide help on a deployment!
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Lessons Learned – What is that you have in your hands? |
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Do you remember that question? It was the question God asked Moses when God was calling him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. It’s in Exodus Chapter 4. I think Chapters 3&4 might be best labeled “The excuses of Moses,” but that’s another sermon altogether… and I digress. The point is the answer to the question was A STICK!!! It was all that Moses had apart from his clothes. And God used it… a simple stick.
There’s a statistic somewhere that says 50% of being successful is just showing up. Let’s go back to the Central Story of this DRone. One line caught my attention, it was : “Tony, hands on hips, looked at the bell and then up to the tower, and smiled. “You got it. Hey guys!”
All those guys did was stop the van and get out. All they did was show up. I’m just gonna take a wild guess and say that NONE of them had been certified by the Southern Baptist Convention as a Bell Hanger. I’m sure that for part of that operation, they had to make it up as they went along (See “The Macgyver Effect”).
Here’s my point. The question is not what you are certified to do, or what is your area of expertise. The question is will you show up? My implication is that if you do, you will be presented with all sorts of opportunity to answer the other question, “What do you have in your hands?”
I have a friend who lives in Uganda. He would walk out into the bush and talk to people until he had enough believers to start a church. He got to the point where there was nowhere else to walk to and home in the same day. He was amazing but his ministry was stopped in its tracks… until someone gave him a bicycle.
What do you have in your hands? It might be as simple as a stick, or a jawbone, or 5 loaves and 2 fish, or 2 minas, or a donkey’s colt, or some mud made with spit, or some empty clay jars, or a slingshot, or a fleece, or an altar made of 12 stones, or a cup of cold water, or a bicycle, or a bell.
Just show up… and bring your stick.
Then I heard the Lord asking, ”Whom shall I send… and who will go for us?” I said, “Here am I, send me.” And He said, “Yes, go…”
Isaiah 6:8-9
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COVID-19 has created many complicated situations for everyone. How do we provide compassionate care as individuals, as churches, and as communities? How do we enhance the resilience that we need to get through these difficult and frustrating days? How do we comfort those who have lost loved ones and couldn’t attend the funerals and other services? How do we manage our relationships when there’s so much anxiety and we are finding it so difficult to maintain healthy relationships?
COVID-19 has complicated training and preparation for responding to these needs. It has also intensified the need for more training for ministry in the church. Chaplains, disaster relief volunteers, and others who do compassion ministry need to keep learning new ministry strategies.
I have just completed a few more courses that K-LOVE Crisis Response Care will be offering over the next few months. Invite your pastor and church friends to attend some of these classes. Chaplains should especially note the following courses:
- Enhancing Resilience (The Transforming Power of Spiritual Resilience)
- Crisis Care During Traumatic Grief
- Managing Relationships During Crisis
- Crisis Care in Cultural and Religious Diversity
Please read the course descriptions on the registration site before you register. Potential disaster relief volunteers and current disaster relief volunteers, please note:
- DTC 101 is appropriate for church members and others who are not already in disaster relief. This class does not meet California SB Disaster Relief requirements.
- DTC 102 is for anyone who has never had any chaplain training (does not meet the requirement for California Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Chaplaincy)
- Peer to Peer Crisis Intervention is typically for Peer Support personnel in first responder agencies, but not restricted to only them
Naomi Paget
Director/Instructor,
CSBCDR Chaplain Program
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Kern County COVID-19 Deployment
Kern County was selected to provide a COVID-19 testing "super site" at the fairgrounds. Up to 5,000 tests can be done per day. The County requested non-medical volunteer support from Kern VOAD member organizations, and as an active member of Kern County Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster, California Southern Baptist Disaster Relief participated and helped to recruit volunteers to assist the County with these efforts.
DR team member Harry McDaniel coordinated our efforts and scheduled volunteers August 3-9th for 6:30 am to 1:00pm and/or 12:30 pm to 7:00 pm shifts. The County provided lunch and water and The Salvation Army provided snacks. We had a total of 7 DR volunteers and 3 non-SBC team members who deployed to Kern County. The deployment consisted of verifying appointments and directing people to the testing area, and completing forms and inputting data into the computer to make appointments. Due to COVID-19 precautions, all volunteers had their temperature taken upon sign-in.
This is a recent example of the kind of community disaster relief we are experiencing more lately. When we do not have a big event such as a specific disaster like a wildfire, flood, earthquake, etc., DR may be needed in targeted communities – often assisting local churches and agencies with efforts within that community. These kinds of deployments are better suited to Disaster Relief team members who live in that vicinity – especially since spending the night is not advised during these COVID-19 conditions.
We will still issue callouts by email, but they may be more localized and not broadcast to the whole state.
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DR Calendar
Operational Stress First Aid (OSFA)*
8/15 Online
Crisis Care in Cultural & Religious Diversity
9/17 Online
Managing Relationships during Crisis
9/23 Online
Operational Stress First Aid
9/24 Online
Crisis Care During Traumatic Grief
9/24 Online
Enhancing Resilience
10/20 Online
*Meets requirement for NAMB DR Chaplain Endorsement
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Help with DRone!
DRone newsletter is for us all, and benefits from your input and perspectives. We need your stories, your photos and your experiences.
Please consider sending your stories, articles, thoughts, suggestions and LOTS OF PHOTOS to Jayne Bauer at [email protected]. This is a team effort! Won’t you join with us?!
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Disaster Relief Contributions are gratefully accepted and help underwrite CSBC's current or future response to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc., in California, nearby states or mission partnership countries.
Response services include the preparation of hot meals for disaster victims who are without basic utility services, recovery assistance to victims without insurance resources, cleanup of homes, and transportation for volunteers to affected areas.
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Please share this newsletter with your friends and churches - help spread the word about CSBC Disaster Relief work in California! |
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DRone is a monthly publication of California Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief to inform and encourage DR team members and friends as we serve together to bring help, hope and healing to a hurting world during a time of crisis. Questions/comments about DRone should be directed to Jayne McClung Bauer, [email protected].
Please sign up here to receive this newsletter in your inbox.
DR Director: Mike Bivins, 916-673-7622
Editor: Jayne McClung Bauer, DR Communications Coordinator, 707-689-4501
Contributors: Dawn Fulkerson, Neils Johnson, Harry McDaniel
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