Welcome to the Indiana Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Mission

ORIGINS

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) originated in 1966 by the Texas Baptists when they were able to assist with the Disaster Relief efforts in the Rio Grande Valley and Northern Mexico caused by Hurricane Beulah. Over time more and more states began participating to create what we now know as SBDR.

TODAY

Today SBDR is operated under the umbrella of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) which is part of Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). There are 43 separate State Conventions participating in SBDR.

There are approximately 82000 certified (trained) volunteers representing 1583 different units.

Indiana has 350+ volunteers with 7 Recovery (chainsaw, mud-out, rebuild) Units, 2 Incident Command Units, 2 Shower / Laundry Units. Indiana is in the process of purchasing a Quick Response Feeding Unit.

West Central Baptist Association has a Recovery Unit (RC0012) and Shower / Laundry Unit (SH002). These units are stationed in Greencastle at New Life Baptist Church.

WHAT IS A DISASTER?

An occurrence that causes human suffering or creates human needs that the survivors

cannot alleviate without assistance. A disaster normally affects more than one person.

Types of Disaster Response:

First Response – typically immediate to 3 days

Recovery – after 3 days to several weeks

Long Term Recovery – after several weeks to years

DISASTER SERVICES

First Response – rapid response units to scene of disaster, self sufficient for 3 days to a week

Damage Assessment – detailed assessment of needs of recovery, tracked within Form Stack

Storm Recovery – typically meaning Chainsaw work

Flood Recovery – typically meaning Mud Out

Debris Clean Up – associated with Chainsaw work or Mud Out

Host Church – provide location for Disaster Relief Site or for Traveling Volunteers

Incident Command – tasked with running a Disaster Relief Site

Counseling / Chaplaincy – tasked with counselling to disaster victims as well as assessing unmet needs

Child / Elder Care – watching of children / elder parents of disaster victims

Feeding – tasked with feeding of relief volunteers or the disaster victims

Shower / Laundry – tasked with maintaining shower / laundry units

Water Purification – in cases where local water source is contaminated, provide a limited amount of Potable water

Rebuild – Usually long term disaster relief (Indiana completed rebuilding a home for an elder couple in Bremen, Indiana)

 

LEVELS OF RESPONSE

Local Church – New Life Baptist Church

Association – West Central Baptist Association

Regional – 3 Indiana Regions. Northern, Central, Southern

State / National

International – International Mission Board (IMB, Send Relief)

 

LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP (HATS)

Yellow – Certified Volunteer

Blue – Team Leader

White – Incident Commander of a site or State Director

CONTACT DISASTER RELIEF

WCBA Blue Hat Team Leaders

Todd Branson – New Life Baptist Church, Greencastle, IN 765-720-5748 tbranson@tds.net         

Keith Royer – Faith Southern Baptist Church, Clay City, IN 812-236-0457 royerknel@gmail.com

Southern Indiana Coordinator

Don Morris – Vernon Baptist Church, North Vernon, IN 812-592-4702 hunt4thelost@gmail.com 

Central Indiana Coordinator

Joe Fox – Old Town Hill Baptist Church, Muncie, IN 765-729-1366 josephfox1960@yahoo.ocm

Northern Indiana Coordinator, Assistant State Director

Dennis Smith – Argos, IN 574-780-5157 dennysmithpbc@gmail.com      

State Director

Butch Porter – Eckerty, IN 618-499-2215 bporter@scbi.org