A first of its kind Disaster Relief mission is taking place right now… and it's starting at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.
September 23, 2011
by Brandon Pickett
On a very rainy Friday afternoon in Lynchburg, VA, a first of its kind Disaster Relief mission is taking place. But it’s not taking place anywhere in Virginia. The destination is more than 450 miles away near Binghamton, NY.
Karin Thompson, a Junior, is one of 108 Liberty University students boarding three buses for a long ride up north to serve in this very unique pilot program, “I’m really excited about it. I think it’s an excellent opportunity.”
“I didn’t have many tests coming up so it was just laid out in front of me that I could go, says Thompson.
Mark Gauthier, Director of Mobilizing with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, says with so many natural disasters around the country, most relief volunteers are already deployed and serving.
“The assessment reports we got from the Red Cross last week indicated that the Binghamton area alone were 2,600 homes have been damaged or destroyed from the floods,” Gauthier said. “But there were no more trained volunteers to send to help those victims.”
Gauthier, though, remembered that Dr. David Wheeler, Professor of Evangelism and Associate Director of the Church Planting Center at Liberty University, had suggested some time ago that students could be used as SBC of Virginia Disaster Relief volunteers if properly trained.
After receiving approval from the university administration it was time to start recruiting these brand new volunteers.
“I went to two of my classes,” Wheeler says. “I have about 1600 students in undergrad Evangelism classes. I had 265 sign up and more than 300 show up.”
By the end of Wednesday night, all the students were certified by the SBC of Virginia after an almost three hour training session.
“It’s just been an amazing thing,” Wheeler said. “I am blown away by this turn out, to say the least."
These students will be housed at Davis College in Johnson City, N.Y. They will clean out flooded homes throughout the Binghamton area starting Saturday morning through Tuesday at noon.
Next Friday, a second team of 162 LU students will leave on the same flood recovery mission to Binghamton, NY. While at the same time, 54 students will be deployed to Montpelier, VT.
“When I saw the huge turnout of Liberty students in response to SBCV’s call for student volunteers to help flood victims in the northeast, it was heartwarming but not surprising,” says Jerry Falwell, Jr., President and Chancellor of Liberty University.
“I never cease to be amazed at how Liberty students place service to others above all else. When outside groups visit campus, they often describe Liberty as an “authentic Christian community”. Our students don’t just profess their Christianity, they live it. They make me proud to serve Liberty and are the best evidence that Liberty is fulfilling its mission of training champions for Christ.”
This pilot program is being developed to further assist future disasters across the country. The North American Mission Board is partnering with the SBC of Virginia to provide funding for transportation for all three teams.
“I felt that we needed to get some younger folks involved in Disaster Relief,” Wheeler said. “I’d love to send teams out on a regular basis to help them build houses and all those kind of things.”
Thompson says since this is her first time volunteering for Disaster Relief, she doesn’t know quite what to expect when she gets there. But she can’t wait to start serving.
“I’ve always had a passion for sharing Christ with those who need to hear about Him and haven’t heard. I think it’s a great opportunity.”
-- Brandon Pickett is the Director of Media Services for the SBC of Virginia
September 22, 2011
With so many natural disasters around the country, most disaster relief volunteers are already deployed and serving. That means there is no one to respond to thousands of victims of the latest flooding in the New England area.
Mark Gauthier, Director of Mobilizing with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, wanted to remedy this. So he contacted Dr. David Wheeler at Liberty University to see if LU students could be trained and mobilized in a unique pilot program to serve in New York and Vermont. Within just a few days, more than 300 students volunteered and just last night (Wednesday night), they were certified after an almost 3 hour training session.
Tomorrow (Friday), 108 students will leave on a flood recovery mission to Binghamton, NY. They'll be on the ground until Tuesday at noon.
Next Friday, another 162 students will leave on the same flood recovery mission to Binghamton, NY. While at the same time, 54 students will be deployed to Montpelier, VT.
Never before has a university been called upon to provide disaster relief volunteers during the school year. This pilot program is being developed to further assist future disasters across the country. The North American Mission Board is partnering with SBCV to provide funding for transportation over the next two weeks.
