Guam | For the people of Guam, just a few weeks after Typhoon Mawar hit the island in May, it appeared that people had forgotten about the damage and their ongoing need. But for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, the work was just beginning. And for Jennifer Smith, an Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) volunteer from Jacksonville, the two weeks she served in Guam during September were hard, hopeful, and a regular part of her missions commitment.
The groups worked cooperatively with the Hawaii-Pacific Baptist Convention (HBPC) and the SBC’s Send Relief, a joint project of the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board. Smith joined state DR teams from Arizona and Oklahoma as a chaplain and she sometimes was doing construction work as well.
“One of the teams arrived without a chaplain,” Smith told her congregation, Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church, after she returned home. Their chaplain was unable to travel, “so I was able to serve with them as a chaplain.
“God put an amazing team together with just the right people.”
Jennifer Smith
In all, nine Baptist state conventions have sent teams to work on a project that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is calling “Guam Strong.” Teams arrived every two weeks during late August and throughout September, at the same time HPBC was developing relief plans for Maui, led by Illinois natives, John and Gay Williams, originally from Granite City.
Her first look at the island didn’t reveal a lot of damage since much of the urban areas had already been cleaned up by that time. But the scene was different outside the cities. The volunteers were assigned was to remote homeowners who were lower on the priority list.
Homes to receive repair orders had to be occupied by the homeowner and sometimes that was complicated. People had to find documents to prove ownership, so non-profit groups including Southern Baptist DR were trying to get to those who had been waiting for help.
The work was hard and the tropical weather was hot—85-90 degrees and humidity above 85% most days. During breaks, teams rotated out of the heat into shaded areas. While she was there, Smith said she saw three homes where repairs were completed. They finished up with some other jobs that had been left by previous teams. More important, the teams reported two salvations among the spiritual ministry they provided.
Some volunteers from Kansas City, Missouri helped a lady named Millie. She had moved into a structure that she and her husband had built next door to her aging mother. They had just completed the home, which was essentially a bedroom with an outdoor cooking area under an awning. It was blown away by the high winds in May.
A month later, Millie’s husband died of a heart attack. As crews set out to restore Millie’s home, they shared a Bible with her and helped her to begin reading the Gospel of John. A week or so later, as the home repair was completed, a chaplain followed up with her and she prayed to receive Christ. A local Southern Baptist church in Guam is following up for discipleship. They will help Millie understand the commitment to Christ that she has made.
The teams also described a woman who was walking on a jungle path and she kicked a coconut out of her way. She said she felt that she had disturbed some of her ancestor spirits as she did so. She told of getting sick and was sure it was because of kicking the coconut.
The volunteers shared Scriptures with her and encouraged her to pray to God in the name of Jesus to ask for help with her anxiety. The woman said she had heard of God but had never heard of Jesus. They gave Bibles to all the family. The father said he believed in God. So, the team is praying the gospel seeds planted will sprout.
Smith described sowing gospel seeds during her two weeks there. At one site, “there were seven kids living under tarps there by the jungle, Smith said. “The home was constructed out of a shipping container. We framed it out to become a house. When the kids returned home from school, their faces lit up. They said, ‘Wow! We will have a house now.’”
One home her teams worked on had a very dark spiritual atmosphere around it. “It seemed like an evil location,” she said. The homeowner, Melvin, hinted that some very sinful activities took place there. He knew Smith was a chaplain and it seemed he was trying to shock her.
The teams tried to share Christ with Melvin, but he would always divert the conversation. Near the end of the project, Smith said she brought up Christ to Melvin. She told him she had traveled 8,000 miles and had taken off work for two weeks to work on his damaged home.
He tried to dispute that fact, saying she was being paid by FEMA. When Smith said no, she was volunteering her time and efforts, that seemed to stop his objections. Melvin listened to the gospel and did not try to divert the conversation. The teams prayed that seeds they planted will take root in Melvin’s heart, and that he will be saved.
For more information on serving with Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief, visit IBSA.org.
Richard Nations is Associational Mission Strategist for the Sandy Creek Baptist Association.
Portions of this article appeared in the Missouri Pathway.