A Brief History of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief traces its beginnings to the actions of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1966, at which time $50,000 was authorized for the Home Mission Board to use in relief efforts.

In 1967, Hurricane Beulah ravaged the Rio Grande Valley and northern Mexico. Robert E. (Bob) Dixon had just moved from the First Baptist Church of Memphis, Tenn., to work with Royal Ambassadors and Texas Baptist Men. Following the devastation of Hurricane Beulah, Dixon used camp craft skills and turned 10-gallon cans into miniature stoves called "buddy burners," which were used to prepare hot food for people affected by the disaster as well as the volunteer workers. Texas Baptist Men again provided hot meals and the love of God to disaster victims in response to a tornado that cut a deadly swath through Lubbock and to Hurricane Celia’s devastation of Corpus Christi.

The 1971 Mary Hill Davis Texas State Mission Offering allotted $25,000 for a disaster relief mobile feeding unit for Texas Baptist Men. With these funds Dr. John LaNoue and other volunteers purchased and converted a used 18-wheeler into the first mobile feeding unit. The mobile feeding unit made its maiden voyage in 1972 when a flash flood struck the Seguin/New Braunfels area of central Texas. The unit prepared and served more than 2,500 hot meals to the disaster victims and disaster relief workers.

So began the tradition still followed today by Southern Baptist Disaster Relief—responding quickly to needs, setting up ministry in the midst of devastation, and providing for the physical and spiritual needs of disaster victims and relief workers. As LaNoue said in 1972, "We’re just trying to do what Jesus said to do."

In 1973, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers responded to the first international disaster. An earthquake affected Managua, Nicaragua, and volunteers constructed buildings to house seven congregations. In 1974, the 18-wheel mobile feeding unit and volunteers responded to Hurricane Fifi in Honduras.

By 1976 four more state Baptist conventions (Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Kansas/Nebraska) had established disaster relief mobile units and joined Texas in this new area of ministry. By 1988 nine more state Baptist conventions had joined the disaster relief ministry: Tennessee (1979), Alabama (1981), Illinois, Arkansas, North Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky, Florida, and Ohio. A total of 17 mobile units now made up the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief fleet operated by 14 state Baptist conventions. Between 1966 and 1988 Southern Baptists responded to more than 200 disasters domestically and internationally and met the needs of thousands of disaster victims.

As the disaster relief ministry became a part of more state Baptist conventions, the annual state leader meetings at the Brotherhood Commission included times of discussion, planning, and review. Following Hurricane Andrew (August 1992), there was a three-day debrief of the Southern Baptist response. A result of this meeting was the beginning of the development of the Disaster Relief Operational Procedures Manual (DROP) to formalize training and establish operational protocols. In 1994, the state Baptist convention disaster relief directors officially adopted the DROP Manual during their annual disaster relief meeting. This manual continues to be the foundation of protocols and training and is currently in its third edition.

This also began the tradition of an annual DR Roundtable meeting that takes place during the last week of April. During this time policies and procedures are reviewed and approved by state Baptist convention disaster relief directors. It is also a time of fellowship, training, worship, and networking for state and national leadership. Partner organizations also participate with review of the year’s activities and plans for the future.

While the Brotherhood Commission in Memphis, Tennessee had initially been responsible for the disaster relief ministry, in 1997 during the annual Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) meeting in Dallas, Texas, messengers adopted the Covenant for the New Century. The SBC was reorganized and three national agencies—the Brotherhood Commission, Radio and Television Commission, and the Home Mission Board—were consolidated into one new national agency called the North American Mission Board (NAMB). One of the nine ministry assignments given to NAMB was "to assist churches in the United States and Canada in relief ministries to victims of disaster." Disaster relief along with other ministries of the Brotherhood Commission moved to the North American Mission Board located in Alpharetta, Ga

The ministry continued to grow as volunteers returned from the field and shared their experiences with others. The 1995 activity and fleet report of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief documented 95 mobile units and 3,000 trained volunteers ready to respond to needs around the world. The 2004 activity and fleet report documented 497 mobile units and more than 28,500 trained volunteers from 39 state Baptist conventions. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief has units in feeding, communication, chainsaw, rebuild, mud-out, showers, laundry, water purification, child care, and chaplaincy. While each year a report is generated that gives the numbers of volunteers who responded and the services provided, there is no way to know the full scope of ministry actually being done.

As the ministry has grown, the leadership structure has also evolved. In the beginning, a small group of volunteers with a limited ministry capacity was available. A team leader (known as the blue cap) and a few individuals would move into a community and provide hot meals, listening ears, and loving hearts. They would often enlist the members of local congregations in the serving lines. This strategy provided a link between the disaster relief ministry and the local congregation. Once the disaster relief units left the affected community, the local church and its members could continue to provide ongoing ministry to the community. With the signing of the American Red Cross Statement of Understanding in 1986, a more formal leadership team was needed. The state Baptist convention disaster relief directors developed more blue caps (unit directors) to give proper direction and guidance to each unit.

The development of the white cap position was approved by the state Brotherhood directors during the 1994 annual meeting. In addition to the national and state director, provision was made to deploy a white cap to give overall coordination to an area affected by disaster. White caps also provided coordination of multiple units of a particular ministry type (i.e., feeding, child care, or recovery). It was not unusual to need a team of eight to 12 people to give leadership and coordination to a large, multistate disaster relief response.

Another development in the operational leadership of disaster relief was the institution of the Disaster Operations Center (DOC) in 1999. The DOC is located in the NAMB Volunteer Mobilization Center and becomes operational during a multistate response. The national offsite coordinator is housed at the DOC and provides technical and logistical support of the operation. In addition to the activation and deployment of volunteers and units, the DOC also keeps the official log of the operation. It is staffed by members of the Adult Volunteer Mobilization Unit at NAMB and disaster relief volunteers who are called in to assist.

The institution of the incident command system (ICS) of management during Hurricane Lili in 2002 is a result of the continued growth of the disaster relief ministry. Proper stewardship of resources and good partnership principles led to using a central command system to handle the number of volunteers, state conventions, and types of ministries involved in a large response.

For example, during the September 11, 2001 response to the terrorist attacks in New York City, western Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., 32 state Baptist conventions were involved with more than 4,000 volunteers ministering during this very critical time in our nation’s history. The need for using the ICS model was realized and steps were taken to implement the system. It was fully used during the next two major responses. In 2002, the Hurricane Lili response in Louisiana involved as many as 30 different disaster relief units from 15 state conventions. In 2003, the Hurricane Isabel response in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware involved 168 units and teams from 24 state Baptist conventions utilizing approximately 2,245 volunteers. This is the largest deployment of units to date in the history of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.

The growth of the disaster relief ministry is also reflected by the Statements of Understanding (SOU) that Southern Baptist Disaster Relief has signed with partner organizations. The first SOU between Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and the American Red Cross was signed in 1986, when the former Brotherhood Commission was responsible for disaster response. In 1995, an SOU was signed between the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board to set up a process for Southern Baptists to respond to international disasters. September 11, 2001 marked another historical event for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. In response to the terrorist attacks, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and the Salvation Army worked hand-in-hand to staff the kitchens at Ground Zero and Staten Island. The result of this cooperative operation was an SOU signed in 2002. In 2003, Mercy Medical Airlift approached Southern Baptist Disaster Relief about the possibility of establishing an SOU to provide transportation for Southern Baptist disaster relief personnel and small cargo if the air transportation system was grounded by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Aviation Administration—as happened on September 11, 2001. This agreement was signed in 2004. As of this writing, an official agreement with the Department of Homeland Security is being drafted and will be finalized in the near future.

Since 1967, when a handful of Texans answered God’s call, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief has grown into one of the three largest disaster relief agencies in the United States (along with the American Red Cross and Salvation Army). Trained volunteers stand ready to be called out when disaster strikes anywhere in the world. As Lloyd Jackson of Virginia states, "Disaster relief provides a unique opportunity to translate the message and person of Jesus Christ into flesh and blood as His followers respond in love and compassion to hurting people regardless of circumstances, social status, financial situation, language, political persuasion, theological stance, education or race. ‘As you do unto these, you do unto me’ remains the guideline for ministry to people in and through disaster relief." To God be the glory!