By Philip Timothy, Message Staff Writer
ALEXANDRIA – Like a pitcher in a major league bullpen, Louisiana Baptist Convention Disaster Relief teams statewide were all warmed up and just waiting for the call to get into the game.[img_assist|nid=7457|title=LBC Japan Team|desc=LBC DR Team: A six-man, mud-out team is preparing to leave to assist in clean up in Japan on August 17. The team was selected from across the state. This is really our first true international team we have ever deployed. We’ve sent teams to Haiti, but none this far, McMillan said. They will be doing a lot of mud-out work but they will also be training others how to do it as well.” Members of the team are (from left seated) Donna Rhymes, Sandy Bates and Jerry Dennis; (back row, from left) Eddie Rhymes, Gibbie McMillan, director of Disaster Relief and men’s ministries for the Louisiana Baptist Convention, Butch Bates and Clyde Dennis. Dennis will serve as the White Hat. McMillan asked that Louisiana Baptist would lift the team up in prayer as it prepares to depart, travels overseas and works and teaches in tsunami-ravaged Japan.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=424]
The call came in early June.
“It’s been a rough spring – tornadoes, flooding, storms, wildfires – for so many,” said Gibbie McMillan, director of Disaster Relief and men’s ministries for the Louisiana Baptist Convention. “There were, and still are, a lot of Disaster Relief teams actively involved in helping tornado-ravaged Alabama and Missouri clean-up while also helping others along the flooded Mississippi River.
“Our guys saw the extent of the devastation and wanted to do something to help. I had teams call daily to let me know they were ready to go where ever they were needed,” McMillan said. “I couldn’t send them until the first of June when I received a DR call-out asking for our help in Springfield, Mass., Battle Creek, Mich., and Vermont.”
McMillan responded quickly by deploying three teams, a chaplain, and an Incident Commander to the northeast portion of the United States to help with the damage caused by a series of tornadoes and heavy rain.
Led by Howard Turner, pastor of Live Oak Baptist Church in Watson, two chainsaw teams and a Bobcat tractor went to Battle Creek to help with storm cleanup.
A powerful storm system spawned three tornadoes in southern Michigan inflicting heavy damage on May 29. In addition, Bill Lott, pastor of Pilgrim Home Baptist Church in Benton, also was in Battle Creek as a chaplain.
James Barrow of Longville took a four-man chainsaw team and a Bobcat tractor to Springfield, where they assisted with removal of damage from a tornado outbreak that killed four, injured more than 100, and caused heavy damage on June 1.
Larry Cupper of First Baptist Church of Zwolle went to Vermont to assess flood damage and to serve as Incident Commander.
“The three teams spent 10 days in their respective areas,” McMillan said, “but they have all returned home. I believe they all got back into the state on June 17.”
While the cleanup continues in the South and Midwest from the tornadoes, flooding in the Dakotas and Nebraska, and fires in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, McMillan said he does not expect any further teams to be deployed at this time.
“Each state has its own DR teams and usually the states closest to them are first responders,” McMillan said. “We won’t deploy unless we are told we are needed. We have teams on standby, but none are heading out.”
While the LBC has no teams being deployed in the U.S., it is preparing to send a six-person mud-out team to Japan Aug. 17-26. The team was selected from the three regions that help to make up the LBC’s Disaster Relief effort.
“This is really our first true international team we have ever deployed. We’ve sent teams to Haiti, but none this far,” McMillan said. “They will be doing a lot of mud-out work but they will also be training others how to do it as well.”
The team consists of three couples – Clyde and Jerry Dennis of Ragley, Butch and Sandy Bates of Pride and Eddie and Donna Rhymes of Mangham. Dennis will be the leader of the team or the ‘White Hat.’
However, before the Japan team gets off, McMillan and some of his DR counterparts from other states will be taking part in a table top exercise in Texarkana, Ark., July 15.
“With the way the North American Mission Board has DR set up, the country has been divided up into different regions,” McMillan said. “We are in Region 3, which consists of Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
“Since we are the first responder to these states, this exercise will allow us to shore up and basically get our protocol better established,” McMillan continued. “This exercise, which we will role play on July 15, will help us to sharpen our skills, line up our assets, establish our organizational structure, and enable us to work together as one group.”