By Lindsey Williams
Writing Specialist
Across counties from Natchez to Corinth, this year’s winter storm left a lingering and disruptive impact. Many communities remain in frigid, isolating situations due to power outages, downed trees, and dangerous road conditions. Mississippi Baptist Disaster Relief (MSBDR) teams have been deployed alongside local churches, emergency managers, partnering ministries, and other state conventions to meet these needs and more.
Reaching nearby communities and surrounding counties, MSBDR response sites have opened in Grenada, Ecru, Water Valley/Oxford, Greenville, and Corinth. Although the needs are overwhelming to crews and especially to those affected, God is at work.
Site at Anchor Baptist Church
With the power shut down, MSBDR volunteer teams were nearly hindered from operating out of Anchor Baptist Church in Water Valley. Receiving aid from Taylor Power Systems, however, the church installed a generator and volunteers arrived to serve Yalobusha, Lafayette, eastern Panola, and southern Marshall counties. Temperatures have stayed freezing and numerous communities continue to go without heat in their homes.
Before the tools and equipment come out, MSBDR assessment teams strategize the best and safest procedures moving forward. In the meantime, volunteers provide supplies and offer prayer and encouragement for those affected.
Wayne Herrington, retired Associational Missions Strategist (AMS) from Brandon Baptist Church and team coordinator stationed at Anchor, recounted a conversation with a man taking supplies to a neighbor. Despite attempting to warm his house with gas logs, the man had awoken that morning to find his toothbrush frozen.
Another volunteer at Anchor and retired pastor from Ethel Baptist Church, Glenn Jackson, met a retired EMT who had been without heat and electricity for eight days, like so many other homes across the state.
“She was bundled up in the furriest poncho I’ve ever seen, and she was a little rattled,” Jackson noted. “When I asked her how she was doing, she had a smile on her face and said, ‘I’m fine.’ She was in need of very few things, so I gave her a goodie bag and she left. She came back about an hour later with a cold cup of coffee and said, ‘Could you microwave this for me?’ I said, ‘I can do better than that,’ and I poured her a fresh cup of coffee. She was very happy with that.”
Like her, many survivors quickly recognize the compassion and the assistance that MSBDR volunteers strive to give, the kind of help that goes above and beyond what is asked of them.
Site at Emmanuel Baptist Church
Over the past week, volunteers based out of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Grenada completed assessments and chainsaw operations and are now providing meals to a local warming shelter, anticipating the arrival of MSBDR feeding support teams to prepare for another three weeks of deployment.
Lowell Ingram, AMS for North Central Mississippi and volunteer at Emmanuel, shared about a request that came in from Tallahatchie County to help a mother and daughter whose mobile home had been badly damaged. The daughter rescued her 85%-blind mother from her bedroom just before a tree limb crashed through the roof, the bed, and the floor. Had she been in bed, it would have killed her.
“Our team found out about it, got out there, got the limb out, and got the tarp on it, and some neighbors saw it,” Ingram said. “Our volunteers got to talking with them and they said, ‘Were y’all the team that did that for her? Thank you so much.’”
Dealing with extended power outages, lack of food, and many communities without water, the team established a water distribution site out of Emmanuel. Although some families are able to come and pick up supplies and water, others are immobilized by debris. Volunteers commit to finding these homes and bringing them food and water while chainsaw teams remove blockage.
“The team came up on a guy who was an amputee,” shared Brent Barker, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church and volunteer. “He was sitting on a cooler trying to cut a tree to get his driveway cleared. It wasn’t on their list yet, but they saw him, went down to his house, and with the equipment, they were able to do it in about 20 minutes. And he just cried. He was out there trying to do it himself.”
In a different case, another amputee stood inside his doorway as Barker’s team brought boxes of food and gallons of water to him.
Requests for help stream in daily. Emmanuel Baptist Church purchases food boxes through their ministry center and have them prepared for distribution. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the local emergency operations center ship water for the team to give out. While on the way to bring help, hope, and healing, MSBDR volunteers look out for others in need.
A Christ-Like Passion to Help
Help is exactly what Allie Nokes, member of Braxton Baptist Church, needed when an enormous tree fell in her backyard.
“I didn’t know what I would do, especially with that huge tree down,” Nokes recalled her worry in the moment. “All the ice was breaking, and trees were breaking around me, and I thought, ‘It’s just me here. I don’t know what I’m going to do.’
“Then all of a sudden these men show up and I was just filled with the love of God and with the passion these men have to help people. They’re out here doing this for everybody in the area, one after the other, after the other. It’s just truly amazing. I can’t explain how much joy and peace I’m feeling just knowing they’ve got this accomplished. It’s been great just watching them work.”
Mississippi Baptists, please continue praying for those affected and for the safety of the volunteers. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide teams in their work and interactions as they bring the hope of Christ into burdened situations.
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