Being hit by two hurricanes in six weeks has stretched the spiritual and emotional health of many in Lake Charles, La., to the breaking point, according to faith leaders engaged in disaster recovery there. The coastal city was slammed by…
Collaborative plan emerging for Hurricane Laura relief work
Collaboration between two Baptist organizations has resulted in a plan for long-term disaster recovery work in Lake Charles, La., the coastal community devastated by Hurricane Laura Aug. 27. Leaders with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and National Baptist Convention of America…
CBF assessing damages and needs in path of Hurricane Laura
Hurricane Laura’s damaging foray through Louisiana and parts of Texas is inspiring faith-based collaboration in disaster response efforts that are complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Representatives of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and National Baptist Convention of America International plan to…
East Coast dodges Isaias as disaster relief continues to evolve
The folks at Palmetto Missionary Baptist Church in Conway, S.C., were ready for just about anything Hurricane Isaias had to throw at them. “We’re so seasoned with hurricanes and tropical storms that most people pretty much stay ready,” Senior Pastor…
Coronavirus complicates hurricane relief efforts by churches
If you think COVID-19 is nasty now, try riding out a natural disaster during the pandemic — or recovering from one. Faith-based disaster response officials describe nightmarish challenges imposed by the coronavirus on communities that have endured hurricanes and tornadoes…
Tornado in ‘the buckle of the Bible Belt’ takes toll on houses of worship
Tornadoes that destroyed more than 140 buildings Tuesday night in middle Tennessee left their mark on a number of religious landmarks in Nashville, a city sometimes called the “buckle of the Bible Belt.”
Our disaster-relief success hasn’t moved the needle in addressing poverty. We need to ask why
Because churches and faith-based organizations do disaster relief so well, we assume what works for communities recovering from a fire will be what works for a family experiencing food insecurity or poverty. Most victims of poverty suffer because of systems designed to help some people thrive at the expense of others’ languishing.
Physical recovery progressing a year after Harvey. Emotionally, not so much
On the outside, many of the Texas communities ravaged by Hurricane Harvey last year appear to making a comeback. But on the inside, some survivors say, the emotional rebuilding is only just beginning.
Emotional rebuilding continues 5 years after Texas blast
The town of West, Texas, took one on the chin when an April 2013 fertilizer plant explosion flattened or damaged scores of homes, destroyed schools, killed 15 people and injured hundreds of others. But the community located about 20 miles north…
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As ‘named storms’ bring destruction, ‘named people and churches’ share Christ’s love
It wasn’t until the early 1950s that tropical storms and hurricanes were given short, easily remembered names to cut down on confusion when multiple storms were churning at the same time.
In marathon tour, American Baptist leaders assess damage of three hurricanes
Representatives of American Baptist Home Mission Societies Communications recently logged more than 6,100 miles of travel in seven days to assess damage and organize responses to three major Atlantic hurricanes that made landfall in the United States over a period…
Tennessee CBF responds to wildfires
A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship partner church in Sevier County, Tenn., lost a youth building and van to wildfires raging through the Great Smoky Mountains that killed at least three people, scorched hundreds of homes and businesses and sent more than…