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Hurricane Sandy


Baptists in US Coordinate Response


Baptists in the United States responded to the disaster caused by Hurricane Sandy. The North American Baptist Fellowship (NABF), through its Disaster Response Network (DRN), put together information and resources to assist those most affected and created a special website to assist in the process. The DRN is a tool used by the NABF, one of six regional fellowships of the Baptist World Alliance®


(BWA), to U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen


avoid duplication and to better coordinate disaster response. “I wish to convey to all Americans who have been adversely affected by the super storm in the Northeastern United States the concern of Baptists worldwide,” said BWA General Secretary Neville Callam. “I am pleased to have heard from George Bullard, BWA regional secretary for North America that the Disaster Response Network of the North American Baptist Fellowship is already in action to respond to this disaster. Together, we will seek to mobilize resources to respond to what is an urgent need.” Bullard, who is also general secretary of


Photo courtesy of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship


the NABF, said he made contact with “many leaders of various Baptist denominational organizations from Virginia to Maine, in Canada, and as far west as Ohio to express our prayerful support to them. I have also asked them to feel free to contact us if the resources available to them are insufficient and they need the assistance of our network.”


American Baptist Churches of New Jersey (ABCNJ), which is based in one of the hardest hit states, attempted to be in touch with its 280 churches and 320 active clergy through email and social media. Efforts were hampered by loss of power as more than two million people within the region were without power for many days.


Photo courtesy of Baptist Churches of New Jersey


After early assessment, Lee Spitzer, executive minister and senior regional pastor of ABCNJ, confirmed that 34 churches were either damaged or destroyed and anticipated that as many as 90 churches in New Jersey suffered some kind of damage from the storm. “Damage from both wind and water has been extensive across the state, and in communities near the Jersey shore, where we have many churches,” many of which, he said, have older structures. The region’s Camp Lebanon also suffered damage and was projected to lose revenue due to camp and retreat cancellations. The Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention had 30 persons in training by the American Red Cross and had volunteers in New York on standby. “We identified churches in Northern Virginia, Washington DC, and Baltimore to be on standby should they be needed for service,” said David Goatley, executive secretary-treasurer of Lott Carey.


Left: Baptist volunteers in the United States offer assistance following the passage of Hurricane Sandy


Facing page, top: The Baptist church in the village of Puscine in Croatia being flooded after the River Drava overflowed its banks


Facing page, bottom: Household items that were damaged and destroyed by the Croatian flood


Goatley said churches in New Jersey


were housing community-wide services for residents affected by Sandy as well as a subsequent Nor’easter winter storm that affected


the US northeast


from November 7-10. “A number of churches and congregants in our [Lott Carey] network are without power, but their damage seems moderate,” Goatley told the BWA. “We have about a dozen churches in NY/NJ that are being activated


for collaboration with the


American Red Cross to provide relief support to survivors.” A concern was the psychological trauma of those who were displaced by the storm or who were otherwise severely affected. “Many people continue to be dislocated and distressed because of loss and uncertainties for the future,” Goatley declared. “We are working with networks of pastoral care professionals in the region to collaborate around responding to the spiritual care needs that many people currently have and that will develop. Our experience in past disasters has taught us that the stress of the storms will result in a number of challenging ways – increases in substance abuse and addiction, domestic violence, depression, and more. We will resource our sisters and brothers with spiritual, personal, material, and financial support.” The need for heating in the cold autumn


was of urgency. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), even though it had few constituents and perhaps no affiliated churches in New York and New Jersey, purchased and distributed several dozen liquid gas heaters as well as fuel. Churches across the country donated so many winter clothes that the CBF indicated it was no longer accepting coats and other winter gear.


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