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“Hurricanes: grim reminders to prepare”
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP and local reports) — June signals the beginning of another hurricane season and residents near the Gulf Coast
would do well to start preparing, especially if the names Katrina, Ike, and Gustav strike a scary chord.
Mickey Caison, a disaster relief leader at the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board (NAMB)
in Alpharetta, Ga., said preparedness is not only for the hurricane season but a planning process that families, churches, and local
Baptist associations should undertake in advance of any possible disaster — whether a tornado in the South, a flood in the Midwest, an
ice storm in New England, or even a swine flu pandemic.
“Families should be prepared in the event of any disaster that may isolate them for a period of time, knock off electricity or block
roads,” said Caison, NAMB’s team leader for adult volunteer mobilization.
The Mississippi Baptist Disaster Relief Task Force, under the direction of the Men’s Ministry
Department of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board in Jackson, has compiled a disaster preparation guide titled, If a Disaster
Strikes, Will I Be Prepared?
The guide can be downloaded from the convention board web site, www.mbcb.org, by clicking on the guide’s icon on the left side of the
splash page.
Caison recommended that families develop a disaster plan and compile a supply kit to cover a minimum of three days.
The family survival kit would include one gallon of water per person per day; canned and packaged food; comfort food such as cookies,
hard candy, sweetened cereals, instant coffee, and tea bags; a first-aid kit; equipment and tools including eating utensils; a
battery-operated radio and flashlight with extra batteries; personal hygiene items; clothing and bedding; and special items like
eyeglasses, copies of important family documents, cash, etc.
“Southern Baptist churches also need to prepare for disasters,” Caison said.
Such preparations for churches could include creating a communications plan for linking the church with its members during a disaster
and, in advance, building strong relationships with community resources such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and city and county
emergency management personnel.
Also, churches can decide in developing a disaster plan if they want to be an Southern Baptist disaster relief operations center, a
site for a feeding unit, or a temporary living shelter for disaster relief volunteers.
“At the same time, their disaster preparedness plan will help them in ways to minister both to their church members and to the
community. If they don’t have a plan, the church is just going to react to the situation,” Caison said.
“A lot of times in a disaster, we’ll call a church and ask if we can use their church to set up a feeding unit but their response is,
‘We’ll have to call a deacons’ meeting or have a business meeting to decide.’ We in disaster relief don’t have time for that so we must
go on to another church.”
Caison said unprepared churches
without plans lose a golden opportunity to position themselves, their ministries, and their facilities in the community.
“In having a strong relationship with community leaders in case of a disaster ——before the disaster strikes — the SBC church will have
a seat at the planning table,” he said. “Churches will be in on the planning, know what’s going to happen and know how you can be part of
the response. Your church then becomes a viable part of the ministry of disaster relief following a disaster, but all these decisions and
relationships need to be made beforehand,” Caison said. “Community disaster relief agencies like the Red Cross or Salvation Army won’t
have time to come to you after the disaster happens and they won’t have time for you to come to them.”
Caison said churches that plan ahead for disaster response can use such opportunities for outreach in the community. For example, a
church can partner with the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and local emergency management to offer a preparedness training event for
families, including those who may not normally attend that church.
“The bottom line is that local churches are in a unique position to respond to individual needs in ways that no other organization or
group can,” Caison said. “Churches can demonstrate the love of Christ as they meet the needs of disaster victims. Even spontaneous
reaction to a disaster in the church’s community can be helpful if it’s coordinated with the efforts of other disaster relief agencies.”
Many of the same issues for disaster relief apply to a possible flu pandemic, Caison said. “How do you minister to your members and
the community when flu pandemics call for mandatory rules against congregating? How will we get food to people when they are quarantined
at home?
“We’re still extremely concerned about a swine flu pandemic although it’s fallen off the radar screen for most folks now, but families
and churches need to prepare for that as a potential disaster, too. The last time there was a major pandemic in 1918, it started in the
winter, waned during the spring and summer, but came back with a vengeance in the fall. The reality is that next fall and winter, we have
a high probability of significant flu.”
One church that is prepared for disasters, including a flu pandemic, is First Church in Cumming, Ga., which averages 1,000 people on Sundays.
“Since the swine flu outbreak, we’ve been emphasizing to our members that if we get into a pandemic situation, the most important
thing our church needs to do is to stay healthy so we can serve our community,” pastor Bob Jolly said.
To hammer that message home, Jolly said First Church recently held its first “No Handshake Sunday” during which members were
encouraged to forsake handshakes in favor of what he described as “the holy elbow bump.”
In the event of a flu pandemic, public gatherings would have to be cancelled, he said. “We’ve told our people that sermons would be
online and that our webpage would be active and dynamic to communicate things they need to know. Our webpage would also include links to
government, CDC (Centers for Disease Control), and NAMB disaster relief sites,” he said.
For more information on disaster relief programs in Mississippi, contact the Men’s Ministry Department, Mississippi Baptist Convention
Board, P.O. Box 530, Jackson, MS 39205-0530. Telephone: (601) 292-3334 or toll-free outside Jackson (800) 748-1651, ext. 334. E-mail:
cwright@mbcb.org.
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