'Reminders of God’s love': As hurricanes keep coming, Texans on Mission keeps responding
First, Hurricane Francine hit Louisiana. Then, Hurricane Helene rolled through five states to become one of the deadliest hurricanes in United States history. Now, Hurricane Milton is bearing down on Florida.
Christian nonprofits have jumped to respond, and Texans on Mission (TXM) has been at the forefront of those efforts by providing chainsaw and flood recovery crews for Louisiana, mass feeding and flood recovery teams for Tennessee and chainsaw units for North Carolina.
Now, they are sending equipment, including an industrial-size generator and flood recovery tools, to Florida in advance of Hurricane Milton, with disaster relief leadership soon to follow.
“Our volunteers are simply amazing,” said John Hall, TXM chief mission officer. “They have responded and keep responding. We are still heavily committed in North Carolina and Tennessee, but, thanks to our donors, we can at least send needed equipment to Florida right now.”
Texans on Mission, previously known as Texas Baptist Men, was one of the first Christian disaster relief groups in the country. Since its beginning in the 1960s, TXM has been joined by other disaster organizations and networks that now make large responses like the current one possible.
“Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves and showed us that our neighbor is anyone in need,” Hall said. “That motivates us and the other Christian groups.”
Regarding Hurricane Helene, TXM deployed mass feeding, chainsaw and flood recovery teams, among others, on Sept. 30 to meet needs after the Category 4 storm raged through Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia and North Carolina. The storm killed at least 230 people and left millions without electricity.
Days after the storm, many remain powerless, and the water supply in some areas has been severely disrupted.
The TXM disaster relief teams are serving in Johnson City, Tennessee, and Spindale, North Carolina, communities impacted in different but significant ways.
The Texans on Mission state feeding unit has been tasked with providing more than 2,000 meals a day in Tennessee while flood recovery volunteers clean out water-soaked homes from the floods.
In North Carolina, TXM chainsaw teams are cutting and removing fallen limbs and trees in an area hit hard by the storm’s high winds.
“Helene left a trail of almost unbelievable destruction,” TXM Disaster Relief Director David Wells said. “It’s like each state is suffering from a Hurricane Katrina-like event.
“People are going to be without electricity in some places for weeks. They’re downtrodden and hopeless. We aim to help pick them back up, help them down the path toward recovery, and serve as reminders of God’s love.”
The storm’s damage is stretching the country’s crucial volunteer disaster relief structure as volunteers try to step up once again in a disaster-heavy 2024. Nearly every Southern Baptist disaster relief group is responding in some way, setting up a multitude of relief sites across the region.
An emerging nationwide network of Christians called the On Mission Network is resourcing and coordinating relief efforts in multiple areas.
“The Bible tells us we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength,” Wells said, noting this is TXM’s 15th major disaster relief deployment of the year.
“We’re seeing that in this response as God’s people respond to his call to minister. Texans on Mission volunteers are serving as the hands and feet of Christ to people in some of their most difficult days.”
TXM expects to rotate volunteers in Tennessee and North Carolina for many weeks. Wells asked people to pray for those impacted by the storm and those meeting their needs. He also encouraged people to step out in faith and join the relief effort by volunteering.
“Everyone has a role in God’s kingdom,” Wells said. “Many people are being called to go serve right now. Some people are being called to give financially. We are all being called to pray for what’s happening from Florida to North Carolina and everywhere in between.”
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Texans on Mission empowers Christians to take on the biggest challenges around the globe. Since 1967, volunteers have delivered help, hope and healing to millions of hurting people and raising up the next generation to do likewise. The organization has helped start and train disaster relief groups in all 50 states, giving birth to the third-largest disaster relief network in the nation.
