The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board has become a foundation for recovery; it established two warehouses in Elizabethton to help residents who lost their homes to Hurricane Helene. These warehouses are part of Arise and Build, Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief’s repair and new construction arm.
In November, Randy C. Davis, the President and Executive Director of TBMB, formed an Arise and Build task force to help homeowners and churches severely affected by the hurricane. More than 1,200 homes and 11 Tennessee Baptist churches were destroyed or significantly damaged.
God’s Warehouse leads the charge
The warehouses are being operated in collaboration with God’s Warehouse, a Ministry of the Nolachucky Baptist Association in Morristown led by Don Owen, the association’s disaster relief director. David Baines, a volunteer from Elizabethton, oversees the first fully operational Warehouse.
 Baines’s Warehouse has already provided building materials to repair teams, and he is excited about the efforts to help residents of northeast Tennessee repair their homes.
“It has been amazing to see the materials and items given to the Warehouse. There are more givers than takers,” David said.
Owen said they are working closely with Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief’s incident command center at Grace Baptist Church in Elizabethton to coordinate the delivery of supplies to northeast Tennessee residents affected by the hurricane.
Illinois Baptist Volunteers tackle ice storm recovery
While Tennessee battles hurricane recovery, Volunteers from Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) spent most of January helping downstate neighbors recover from a massive snow and ice storm. At least 95 IBDR volunteers were involved in the efforts, which resulted in nearly 400 job requests and two homeowners’ salvation decisions.
The state’s southernmost counties were covered in two-thirds of an inch of ice that brought down tree limbs and knocked out power to a reported 60,000 customers during the January 4-5 storm. As conditions became safe for them to work, IBDR began responding to requests to remove downed trees and tree limbs from homes and yards following the storm.Â
Teams were nearly overwhelmed by the 387 requests. There were so many that IBDR had to stop accepting new work requests at one point.
“Structural damage to homes in the area was limited, and the jobs ranged from minor branches and twigs to limbs piercing the roofs of homes. However, most jobs occur between the two extremes,” stated State Coordinator Arnold Ramage.
Volunteers shared the gospel with homeowners and, upon completing their work, presented them with a Bible signed by the team. Ramage said that the salvation decisions were their reason for coming.
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Bad weather obstructed early efforts, allowing teams from Saline and Williamson Associations to work on January 9 before ceasing all action. Once the weather cleared, work began again in earnest on January 13, and teams from Franklin, Greater Wabash, Kaskaskia, Salem South, and Three Rivers Associations joined them; most IBDR teams comprised assessors, chainsaw operators, and chaplains.
To help with tons of job requests, Mennonite volunteers from the Stonefort area and American Baptist teams assisted. At least 231 jobs were completed before incident command closed on Friday, January 24, with local teams continuing to fulfil requests as time allowed.
Tennessee Baptist Mission Board: Mission continues
As the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board becomes a foundation for recovery, launching a large-scale relief effort to support residents affected by Hurricane Helene, their dedication and efforts serve as a beacon of hope, echoing the spirit of generosity and compassion seen in other relief initiatives, such as the recent $30M+ Los Angeles wildfire relief campaign.