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Zac Barringer is a member of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Vero Beach, Fla., whose youth ministry special- izes in disaster response.


The group already had a mid-June mission trip to West


Virginia planned when spring tornadoes ripped through the Southeast. They put that site on temporary hold and instead deployed to Cullman, Ala., where Christ Lutheran Church had been destroyed. The congregation in Cullman and its pastor, Sandy


Niiler, were surrounded by physical and emotional chaos after the tornado. And while they appreciated the concern pouring in from around the country, they sim-


ply didn’t need untrained volunteers. Having lived all his life on the hurricane-prone eastern Florida coast, Smith knows disaster victims often feel dazed and over- whelmed. They need “somebody to go in and figure out what’s really needed, find it, deliver it and put it to good use,” he said. Our Saviour’s youth are trained and experienced in site cleanup and building repair (including heavy machinery).


Some of its members are also pursuing Community Emergency


These young people are ready to be deployed By Deborah K. Halter


T


he resort community of Vero Beach, Fla., where roughly half the population is over age 45, hardly seems an ideal setting for a traditional youth ministry. But then, the youth group of Our Savior Lutheran Church is anything but traditional.


The group is redefining what “Freed in Christ to Serve” can mean for young Lutherans: disaster response. “We want to be able to deploy when and where there’s a need,” said youth director Jimmy Smith.


Halter is coordinator of pastoral care for the Southeastern Synod, where tornadoes and floods have hit Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee.


Response Team training, a level of preparedness that most adult responders and volunteers don’t have. With no precedent to guide them, Smith and the young people are develop- ing their own disaster-response youth model. Smith originally had the vision of what was needed for a successful team, but he lacked technical know-how. He found a mentor in Harry Jones, a paramedic, firefighter and instructor for the Department of Homeland Security who began doing disaster response at age 17.


Jones taught Smith the importance of learning and practicing disaster response before an emergency strikes, and how to successfully combine trained volunteers and corporate donations. “You’ve got to know where to look and who to ask for help and supplies,” said Jones, who says he always receives “great response” from big-box stores such as Lowe’s, Home Depot and Walmart. Smith said strong congregational support is the biggest source of help for a successful disaster-response youth ministry. Before the Florida youth left for Alabama in June, each member of Our Savior wore a bracelet with a partici- pant’s name on it and prayed for that person throughout the experience. The youth group also needs strong parish support at the disaster site. Every afternoon after scraping brick in the Alabama heat, the youth returned to their makeshift quarters at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran in Birmingham, 60 miles south of their work site. The congregation provided them with kitchen and shower facilities, an evening pool party, and lots of gratitude for the young people’s dedication and skills. “These young people are getting training in disaster response,” Smith said. “But more important, they’re seeing what the Holy Spirit can do when you’re willing to help others.” 


For more information, contact Jimmy Smith at smith5790@bellsouth.net. 18 The Lutheran • www.thelutheran.org


‘Disastrous’ youth ministry


ASHLEE WEBSTER


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