Disaster Relief

Adapted from the SBCDR  Associational Preparedness Manual

A disaster is defined as anything that causes human suffering or creates human needs that the victims cannot alleviate themselves. 

Prayer 

Everything a Christian, a church, or an association does should be bathed in prayer. Begin with prayer, conduct your research with prayer, study options in prayer, develop organization and structure with prayer, and build relationships with prayer. Prayer is essential to finding God’s will in this and all other matters.

About MBA

Marion Baptist Association has a rich history and heritage of providing churches the opportunity to work together to accomplish more than they could accomplish individually. Churches within the association also have the ability to assist one another by sharing resources and leadership. By working together we can accomplish tasks too large for any one church. The churches in the association can accomplish kingdom purposes by working together.

Because churches in the association have worked together in the past, church leaders already know one another. They are already positioned to share volunteers and resources and help one another in a variety of ways following a disaster. The association is the only group positioned to effectively marshal the resources and volunteers of area Baptist churches during times of disaster. They also have valuable knowledge and information about their communities that will assist the leadership and resources that are deployed into an area affected by a disaster.

Churches (even very small churche) have many physical resources such as buildings, busses, vans, volunteers, and parking lots that can be used with little effort to assist survivors during a time of disaster.

Baptists understand that each church is independent and autonomous. Associations do not direct the work of churches. Conventions do not direct the work of churches or associations. Each church and each association, following its own structure, determines what it will do in times of disaster. Each entity has the ability to determine how they will fit into the Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief Ministry and Florida Baptist Convention Disaster Relief.

We often partner with other disaster relief organizations such as the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, and the local emergency management agency 

Churches are encouraged to develop their own disaster response plans by conducting a church disaster preparedness workshop. Additionally, the association encourages churches to provide family disaster preparedness workshops to their congregations and communities. The Associational Mission Strategist and the associational staff have a personal knowledge of the churches in the association. They will have knowledge of the layout of the buildings, the size of the parking lots, etc. 

 When the Disaster Strikes 

It is not a question of whether a disaster will occur in Florid— it is a question of when it will strike. Disasters don’t always occur on a weekday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The pastors know how to contact the Associational Mission Strategist at any time of day or night. Likewise, the Associational Mission Strategist knows how to contact pastors, and disaster relief coordinators for our state and national partners. 

The associational office building and parking lot may be used by disaster relief teams for training or during an actual disaster. In like manner, churches are encouraged to be prepared to respond to a disaster by taking any necessary church action in advance of the event.

Checking on the Churches and Staff 

A system has been developed to check on the churches and staff families when a disaster occurs. The associational staff will also check to determine if any of the church buildings were damaged. The enormity of the task may be such that delegating some of the responsibilities may be appropriate. Pastors, staff, and disaster relief volunteers or units from the state convention can be called to augment the associational staff.

Notify State Convention Personnel 

Florida Baptist Convention provides assistance to the general population, churches and for pastors and staff who suffer losses. The Associational Mission Strategist requests resources from the state convention.

Notifying Neighboring Associations 

The workload for the associational staff actively involved in disaster relief is tremendous. Enlisting volunteers from some of the unaffected churches will help, but in a very large disaster the AMS might request some help from a neighboring association. The fellowship Associational Mission Strategists is such that when a disaster strikes, the affected association will often receive calls from other associations all over the state. Other associational director of missions will ask, “What can I do to help?”

Assisting During a Disaster Response 

In disaster situations, the AMS contacts disaster relief leaders/teams to share information about churches that will help the disaster relief personnel determine where to locate various disaster relief units. He encourages churches to support disaster relief efforts and provide a central point of contact for much of the disaster relief effort in the area. 

As the incident commander makes decisions about the placement of various disaster relief units, the AMS is available to assist by providing needed information and insight into the needs of the churches and impacted communities. The AMS also provides needed information about resources and their availability within the association.

Notification Protocols

Local Church - Pastors and other church leaders are encouraged to notify the Associational Mission Strategist when a disaster or other event occurs in the area or is expected to occur that will require more resources than the church can provide.

Association - The AMS will notify state convention disaster relief leadership when a disaster or other event occurs in their area or is expected to occur that will require more resources than the combined churches of the association will be able to provide. 

State - State convention disaster relief groups have working agreements with the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and, state emergency management entities. Therefore, Baptist disaster relief units may respond to work with those entities during times of disaster. In such cases, the AMS or other associational leadership will be notified. The unit director or incident commander will look for opportunities to involve local Baptist churches and/or associations even when working closely with other disaster relief organizations.

Autonomy and Cooperation 

Baptist churches are noted for both autonomy and cooperation. These terms are not mutually exclusive. While we cooperate very closely at all times, each church still maintains its autonomy. During a disaster, cooperation is most critical. We must all work together to insure that the victim receives the very best care possible.

When a church handles a disaster, it is handled under the structure determined by that church.

When the churches of one association can deal with a disaster, the structure determined by the association will be followed. This does not mean that a church has given up its autonomy. It simply means that the churches are cooperating together to get the work done.

When resources from outside the association respond, the disaster relief personnel assigned by the state convention coordinate them. State disaster relief personnel will work closely with associational staff to insure the best use of the resources to match the needs.