WINFIELD, Missouri – We just ended our disaster relief efforts in Terre Haute, IN, where Operation Blessing coordinated more than 2,390 volunteer hours valued at $45,000. Terre Haute was a great success as we partnered with Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Rapid Response Team Chaplains and The Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. (more…)

TERRA HAUTE, Ind. – Our volunteer teams had a great surprise today – they were featured on the front page of the local newspaper, The Tribune Star. Everyone was encouraged when they read about the gratitude of the community. (more…)

TERRA HAUTE, Ind. – We started the week off strong with 27 volunteers on Monday. We ran 3 work crews cleaning and gutting homes. (Gutting is a term we use in disaster relief to describe the process of removing the sheetrock and insulation one foot above the water level in the flooded homes.) What a great week it has been, and it’s only Tuesday. (more…)

What an awesome day – we’ve reached a “turning point.”

City officials have really started to turn to and rely on Operation Blessing. As we worked, we gained the respect and favor with the local government, emergency management officials and residents.
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TERRA HAUTE, Ind. – On my first day out in the affected neighborhoods to do assessments with OBI’s construction foreman, I could not believe that after nine days there was still standing water, roads washed out with water still gushing over them and water still seeping up from the saturated ground. (more…)

Suffolk, Va. – It is day 2 …and we began by going to a local “look & leave mission” conducted by the Suffolk Emergency Management.  Residents gathered on the lawn of the Parks and Recreation Department to hear instructions on how they would be escorted to see their home for the first time since the storm. (more…)

We were up early this morning – at 6:40 – to meet the Emergency Management Directors for the local post office. Turns out, the storms also wrecked havoc on the postal system, strewing mail all over the place. Confidential information was just lying in the road and streets and paper was everywhere. Immediately they dispatched the post master and a team of volunteers to sort the mail. They filled four large mail carts by the time they were done. (more…)

After a short night of sleep, our day began with a guided tour through the devastated area with Karry, a young lady from Cragfont Baptist Church. As we went through each area, Karry greeted residents on the roads giving tips on how to navigate around the debris and over the many of the roads that were still not accessible. (more…)

Our U.S. Disaster Relief Team began responding to the Midwest Tornadoes early Wednesday morning, gathering information from various churches, national disaster relief agencies and contacts with our FEMA relationships.

I called Cragfont Baptist Church in Castalian Springs, Tenn., and talked to Ron, their church administrator who has been working around the clock over the past 24 hours. 

“What is your greatest need?” I asked.  (more…)