It began 40 years ago with a handful of volunteers and a used Allied Moving Van tractor trailer outfitted as a kitchen unit, affectionally dubbed “the van.” Now Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief Ministries (IBDR) has over 400 trained volunteers who minister when called following disasters around the United States. They serve through chainsaw units, shower/laundry trailers, mobile kitchens, child care teams, mud out work, as chaplains, and other means.
In that time IBDR volunteers have arrived on the scene to minister at some of the nation’s worst disasters. They’ve ministered to the survivors of Hurricanes Hugo, Andrew, Katrina, Harvey, and many others; following 9/11 near Ground Zero and at Fishkill Island in New York City; the Great Mississippi River flood of 1993 and numerous other floods, tornadoes, and wildfires.
A sea of yellow shirts filled the fellowship hall of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Carlinville on April 15 to celebrate IBDR’s 40th anniversary. They honored the late Thurman Stewart, who along with John Whitman, Bob Stuckey, and many other men and women, launched the ministry in 1983. Emmanuel Baptist was the site of the van’s dedication in February of that year, and it was officially used for the first time that May after a tornado struck the Illinois town of Greenfield.
Stewart, who died in December 2022, was represented by his widow and partner in ministry, Carol. She shared how the ministry was two years in the making. Carol read from one of Thurman’s journals where he had written on Labor Day 1981, “If I can help one life from a disaster, then I will be well repaid.” She noted it was Thurman who coined the popular saying in the disaster relief world, “Disaster relief is evangelism through love, using the hands to reach the heart.”
Rick Stayton, an early IBDR volunteer, spoke about how primitive the ministry’s early years were. Following Hurricane Andrew in 1992, volunteers “took parts of an old chain link fence and made a teepee shower with tarp and an old garden house. Now we a have a shower unit.” Today the unit has a large trailer with both showers and washer/dryers used by IBDR volunteers and disaster survivors.
IBDR added chaplains to their ministry in 1992 and childcare in 1994. The Stewarts were an active part of child care ministry. Thurman served in that capacity just a month prior to his death at the November 2022 IBSA Annual Meeting in Edwardsville. “Thurman was always on call as the player of the harmonica” to soothe the children, Carol said.
At the anniversary celebration, IBDR volunteers surprised Carol with the newly refurbished childcare unit trailer that now reads “In Memory of Thurman Stewart.”
“It can be a challenge emotionally, but it can be rewarding helping someone,” said Deb Robertson, a 15-year veteran. She has ministered to children and their parents following floods and even mass shooting events. “It’s been a blessing to watch their kids while parents have gotten counseling to begin to heal.”
Arnold Ramage, the current IBDR State Director, said of the volunteers, “When we come in, the job becomes a mission. We must be the hands and feet of Christ in all instances.”
The survivors the volunteers meet and get to share Christ with—“that’s why we go,” said Ramage. “The tornadoes, the floods just give us an excuse to show up.”
The original van caught fire while volunteers were serving following Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Texas Baptists donated a fully equipped kitchen to replace it.
The first disaster relief ministry effort was started by Southern Baptists in Texas after Hurricane Beulah in 1968. In the ensuing years, more churches, local associations, and state conventions formed their own disaster relief teams, uniting to make Southern Baptist Disaster Relief the third largest disaster relief organization in the country, behind the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
IBDR has a goal of training 100 new volunteers in 2023. To learn more, visit IBSA.org/disaster-relief.
Watch for the May 1, 2023 issue of the Illinois Baptist newspaper for photos from IBDR’s 40 years of ministry.