BY DR. JOHN SULLIVAN
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR-TREASURER
FLORIDA BAPTIST CONVENTION

Florida Baptists will stand in the gap for pastors in hurricane ravaged communities

I have spent the past week in Southwest and Central Florida assessing the damage done to our churches by Hurricane Charley. The damage was much worse than I expected. The hurricane with its tornado-like winds of over 145 miles per hour uprooted trees and pulled off roofs in some areas, while leaving others untouched.

Many of our churches are hurting. At least 30 church buildings have received some kind of damage. Three that we know of have been destroyed. Cecil Seagle, director of the Missions Division, and Jim Chavis, director of the Church Development Division, and I have visited nearly 150 churches during the past week.

We have some phenomenal pastors who are ministering to their communities and their church members in a number of selfless ways. Many of them are systematically visiting every church member to determine specific needs. I have never been more proud of our Florida Baptist pastors and congregations.

While many of our pastors report that everything is fine right now, I believe in three to four weeks new needs will become apparent. The citrus industry was especially hard hit with an estimated 50-75 percent of the crop lost. As people are without work, offerings will decline and money for salaries will not be available. As we did after Hurricane Andrew, Florida Baptists will stand in the gap for our pastors and their staff. Money will be made available to help them get through this crisis.

Also, many of our churches are well covered by insurance. But others will discover that their buildings are underinsured or aspects of their rebuilding will not be covered by their insurance policies. Once again, Florida Baptists will assist our churches in every way possible. We will not let Hurricane Charley prevent our congregations from fulfilling the purpose to which they are called.

I was absolutely overwhelmed at the response of Southern Baptists to the disaster which traveled across Florida. Feeding kitchens from our sister state conventions rolled in during that first weekend and immediately began preparing and distributing hot meals for many residents. Hundreds of Southern Baptist volunteers gave up their vacations and paid their way to travel to Florida to help in the clean up and cooking effort. They have become God’s instruments to hurting communities. We can never repay them or thank them sufficiently. God bless them.

And lastly, I want to commend Florida Baptist volunteers. They are staffing our kitchens, cleaning up yards, and cutting trees from roofs. Those living in the path of the storm’s destruction are gathering and distributing commodities, many times using their own finances to help their communities get through this. Thank God for Florida Baptists. I’ve never seen such a wonderful people in all my life. They know how to act in the time of a tragedy.

Let me assure you that the entire convention staff is rotating in and out of the hurricane damaged area. We have assigned all staff members—from Sunday school workers, to Baptist campus ministers; from language staff to those who specialize in church and community ministries—to specific churches and communities. They will do whatever it takes to walk beside our Florida Baptist pastors and congregations until their communities are up on their feet.

In response to our state disaster, I am asking that you pray for our churches, pastors and volunteers. The days and weeks ahead will be difficult for them. We need to pray for our volunteers that they will have strength for their work. Feeding thousands a day require long hours in the hot sun. Many are sleeping on church floors. Others do not have running water.

You may want to volunteer. You may do so by contacting the Florida Baptist Men Department at 800-226-8584, ext. 3121. They will assign you a place where your expertise—or just your willing heart—will be put to use.

And finally, you can give money to help our churches. You may want to designate those funds to help a specific church. Or you may want to help cover the cost of this massive operation. Financial contributions to relief efforts may be sent to the Florida Baptist Convention, 1230 Hendricks Avenue, Jacksonville, FL, 32207. Checks should be made payable to the Florida Baptist Convention and noted for designation to Hurricane Charley relief. Credit Card donations using Visa, MasterCard or Discover, please call 800-226-8584, ext. 3049, to facilitate transaction.

I often say that Florida Baptists are the most generous people that I know. Thank God for Florida Baptists.

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You may contact Dr. John Sullivan at
1-800-226-8584, ext. 3015, or by e-mail.