By Rick Burnette On September 10, 2017, Category 2 Hurricane Irma inflicted considerable damage on Immokalee, Florida, an unincorporated farm town in southwest Florida where most of American’s wintertime tomatoes are grown. With a local poverty rate of almost 40 percent, farmworker residents labor long hours in the fields just to make minimum wage. Pay … Continue reading
May 3, 2021 By Aaron Weaver DECATUR, Ga. — An innovative pastor, intercultural ministry entrepreneur and experienced disaster recovery specialist from North Carolina has been selected to provide leadership to the long-term domestic disaster relief and recovery work of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Rev. Dr. Daynette Snead will serve as the manager of CBF Disaster … Continue reading
By Rick Burnette Hurricane Dorian moved into the northwestern Bahamas on September 1, 2019, and slowly churned across North Abaco and Grand Bahama for the next two days. By the time Dorian moved north, high winds and storm surge from the Category 5 storm left behind widespread property damage and scores of deaths with most … Continue reading
March 26, 2021 By Aaron Weaver DECATUR, Ga. — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is encouraging donations to support future relief efforts following the recent tornadoes that impacted communities across multiple states. CBF Global Missions Coordinator Steven Porter emphasized that Cooperative Baptists have a critical role in this moment. “As communities navigate the aftermath of a … Continue reading
By Rick Burnette Kenny Phillips’ fourth trip to hurricane-battered Lake Charles was in early March. Phillips, who serves as CBF Florida’s Disaster Response Coordinator, visited Lake Charles for the first time soon after Hurricane Laura struck the coast of southwest Louisiana on August 27, 2020. Transferring a CBF Florida equipment trailer and helping … Continue reading
By Rick Burnette Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 hurricane, made landfall along the southwest Louisiana coast on August 27, 2020, impacting numerous communities, including Lake Charles, La. High winds devastated the city and surrounding areas. Almost six weeks later, on October 9, Hurricane Delta struck the same region as a Category 2 storm, undoing recent … Continue reading
By Rick Burnette Preparing for another day of pastoral duties at Iglesia Bautista de Metrópolis in Carolina, a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Rev. Jesus Garcia felt the earth move during the early hours of January 7. With loss of electricity throughout Puerto Rico, a strong 6.6 quake followed, causing extensive damage in an … Continue reading
By Rick Burnette During the second week of December, I boarded the ferry in Ft. Lauderdale bound for Freeport, Grand Bahama. Upon arrival I was met by Pedyson Baillou, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church located on Sweetings Cay (pronounced key), an island just off the eastern end of Grand Bahama. Headed towards Sweetings, the effects … Continue reading
November 25, 2019 CBF Disaster Response, in consultation with BWA Forum for Aid and Development (BFAD) partners, continues to work closely with CBF Bahamas and Florida to organize and implement an appropriate response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian on Grand Bahama and North Abaco. The Category 5 hurricane resulted in at least 65 … Continue reading
By Ashleigh Bugg In June of 2019, Mary Nell McCoy co-led the first Disaster Spiritual Care training as a part of the CBF General Assembly in Birmingham. The Disaster Spiritual Care program is used to train chaplains to work with teams deploying to help people during crisis and disasters. According to McCoy, the DSC chaplains minister to emotional … Continue reading
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