![Arnold Ramage](https://illinoisbaptist.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Arnold-Ramage-state-IBDR-director-260x300.png)
Arnold Ramage
Springfield | Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) teams have had busy spring responding to callouts in southern Illinois and Texas. Now IBDR chaplains are going to minister in Greenfield, Iowa where an EF-4 tornado injured at least 35 and killed four on Tuesday, May 21, according to the AP.
The North American Mission Board-endorsed chaplains from Illinois will join Iowa and Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief teams already on-site. Meanwhile, other IBDR teams have been placed on standby. IBDR State Coordinator Arnold Ramage said Iowa Baptist Disaster Relief leaders will reassess the local needs early next week to see if more volunteers will need to be sent.
Texas work ends early
Work in Cleveland, Texas, about 35 miles north of Houston, started Monday, May 20, and was expected to last several weeks, but has come to a sudden halt. Straight-line winds clocking in at up to 100-miles-per-hour along with heavy rains fell in the Houston area on May 16 killing four people, reported CBS News.
In response, IBDR incident command, assessors, chaplains, and feeding and flood recovery teams were called to stage out of Calvary Baptist Church in Cleveland. Sixteen volunteers served the first week along with a flood recovery team from Ohio.
It was touch and go when the teams arrived. Ramage said due to the heavy flooding, “Many areas are still inaccessible for recovery [work].”
Then as the week wore on, some parts of the surrounding area received eight plus inches of rain causing flood waters to rise once again leaving the volunteers with no choice but to return to Illinois. “We are at standdown in Cleveland because the water is just too high,” said Ramage. “We can’t get to the homes.”
The volunteers did get to do some flood recovery work while they were there. When their work is completed, they gather as team with the homeowners and present them with a Bible. During that presentation they share the Gospel. Something special happened during one of the IBDR presentations.
Ramage said there were 18-year-old twin brothers present, who while they had been brought to church by their grandparents, not made a decision for Christ. This time upon hearing the gospel, both twins accepted Christ as their savior.
The Ohio team also shared the gospel with a man who was, according to Ramage “a non-church attender,” and he accepted Christ, too. “Those three salvations – they made the trip worthwhile,” he said.
Local Baptist Disaster Relief leaders will observe the conditions in Texas as flood waters recede. “We may go back in a few weeks,” said Ramage.
The next IBDR training will be August 23-24 at Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp in rural Pinckeyville. Watch for registration details to be made available at a later date.
IBDR has more than 400 trained volunteers who serve on chainsaw and flood recovery teams, with shower, laundry, and food service, and at every callout, as chaplains. IBDR is a partner with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, part of the SBC’s Send Relief compassion ministry. It is the third largest disaster relief organization, after the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
IBDR is a volunteer organization ministering with the Illinois Baptist State Association.