9/5/19

Dear Associational Friends,

Concerning Hurricane Dorian, some of you are already calling about a response. First let me say, that with the hurricane ravaging our coast even as I write this, we need to certainly be in prayer for our friends in the low country who will be bearing the brunt of Dorian’s destructive forces. Secondly, please know that we are monitoring the hurricane, its effects and a proper response, through our normal channels of the SCBC Disaster Relief group. They are poised, ready and waiting for the outcome even as we are. Our local associational DR director, Dwight Herring, has already sent out preemptive calls for readiness among our associational teams.

Having said all that, until Hurricane Dorian actually passes our state (next 24 hours or so), we will not know the extent of damage nor the areas that need the most response. I know at times like this, everyone feels the need to do something. But it is too early for an organized response. It will probably occur next week after our SCBC DR Assessment Teams complete their work. So my suggestion is as follows. If you or your church have a relational connection with a person, church or area of the low country and when it is safe and allowable to respond, please do so. Secondly, if and when any needs arise for the collection of items, we will certainly pass that info along. And lastly, one of the quickest and easiest ways that individuals and church groups can respond is to purchase $25 Visa or similar pre-paid gift cards. Send them to the association and when our sister associations start letting us know of their needs, we can send those gift cards to the most needy areas for the purchase of baby products, water, tarps, food, toiletries, etc., if and when they have access to stores. We have done this in the past, and in fact, following the last Greenwood floods a couple of years ago, our association teamed up with His Radio station and we were able to distribute thousands of dollars of pre-paid gift cards to needy residents in our own back yard. When you give these cards, goods and materials can be purchased closest to the disaster zone without the need to logistically figure out how to transport tons of water, plywood, etc. And of course, pertaining to the disaster in the Bahamas, the SCBC Disaster Relief group will be glad to receive donations of money in order to mount a response down there when that becomes feasible as well.

And please know, that our LBA Disaster Relief Units, under the direction of Dwight Herring, are on standby, ready to go, but will only respond in a crisis when asked to do so through the chain of command with our South Carolina Baptist Convention. In fact, one Emergency Response Feeding Unit in SC has already been called out and has been feeding 400 meals a day to first responders since Sunday.

Hopefully and prayerfully, the damage from Dorian will only be localized, but the breadth of the storm could cause much greater widespread damage. Even at the writing of this, thousands in the low country are without power. So again, let us continue to pray for those who will be most affected by this storm.

God Bless!

David Little

http://www.scbaptist.org/dr