DR Team Shovels Mud and Shares the Gospel

BARRE, VT — A Disaster Relief team from Blue Ridge Baptist Association and Montgomery Baptist Association recently returned from deployment to Vermont, where they provided flood recovery work in the town of Barre, following Hurricane Beryl. The team worked on ten homes in four days, provided seven gospel presentations, and gave away ten Bibles. Alan Caho, a member of Faith Baptist Church in Knoxville, led the team. He said they were familiar with the neighborhood. “We were here last year on the same day — July 10.” Both times, the town was flooded.

As the team worked doing “mud-outs” and cleaning out basements, they got to know the homeowners. Caho said most of the homes the team worked in were unchurched. A seasoned DR worker, Caho said he has found that one way to break the ice with homeowners and others is to share upfront what the team believes, especially when people are a little wary of Southern Baptists coming north to help, “I tell them, ‘We believe that God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. and hell are all absolutely real. We think the greatest gift we’ve been given is the gift of Jesus and the salvation he promised, and we want to share that gift with everyone we run across.’” That opens doors for questions and discussion, he said.

One homeowner was a self-proclaimed agnostic, said Caho. “We normally don’t let people into our equipment trailer, but I took him through. He saw it as an organized toolbox on wheels, specifically designed and expensively equipped to do what we do. I told him that 36 churches in the BRBA collect money to outfit the trailer and pay for gasoline. That proves we love you, and the only thing we want to do is share the greatest gift we’ve been given.” The man accepted a Bible from the team.

In addition to sharing Bibles and praying with families, the team gave one little girl a “trauma bear” with a DR logo and prayed with her after she became very fearful when it began to drizzle outside.

While the Maryland team worked, they could fellowship with an Ohio team doing recovery work and one from South Carolina doing logistical work. Caho said, “This is the Cooperative Program (CP) in its fullness. No one church or group of churches can do what Southern Baptist Disaster Relief can do — the logistics and financial support are all unique to Southern Baptists, and it’s the CP that makes this happen. I love being with brothers and sisters across the country. I wish more Baptists could see how this plays out and makes a difference in the real world.”

Team members included 86-year-old Gwen Arthur, a member of Greenridge Baptist Church, who Caho said provided strong support in logistics; Brian Little, a member of First Baptist Church of Rockville; and Linda Allen, Paul Gates, and Caho, from Faith Baptist Church, Knoxville.

“We try to serve people and make their lives a little better and share Christ,” said Caho. He chuckled and said that, with incoming storms, they may be on the road again.

For information about Disaster Relief, contact Ellen Udovich. You can register now for upcoming training here.