Help needed in Sublette

Disaster Relief Supervisor, Jamie Kincaid, works with 2 Texas volunteers to pull a loose branch out of damaged tree in Sublette.

NEWS | Morgan Jackson

When an “act of God” takes place and overwhelms a community with destruction, a genuine act of God is the response through Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Teams. When a DR call out is given, volunteers respond to offer physical labor, but more importantly, spiritual healing through sharing the gospel.

Two months ago, an F2 tornado struck the southern end of Woodhaven Lakes, the world’s largest privately owned camping resort located in Sublette, IL. Disaster Relief teams have been offering aid in the area ever since, the most recent group during the week of August 16-22.

120 individuals from Illinois, Missouri, and Texas traveled to Sublette to do mostly chainsaw work – cutting trees, taking care of hanging limbs, etc. Volunteers also cleaned up multiple properties and carried debris to designated spots where it could be properly disposed of.

The F2 tornado that struck Woodhaven Lakes 2 months ago left some camping facilities unscathed and others in ruins.

Woodhaven Lakes is for many either a weekend house or vacation spot. This made it difficult to get in touch with owners who weren’t there in the middle of the week. DR Supervisor from Springfield, Jamie Kincaid, said that a work order needs to be signed before anything is done to the property. “Without that, we can’t touch it.”

Despite this hurdle, by the end of the week the 120 volunteers completed a total of 146 job orders. Less people on the property, though, also meant fewer individuals to share Christ with. But God opened spiritual doors nonetheless.

Wendell Romans from Texas, a Disaster Relief volunteer of 23 years, said the DR chaplain had a chance to share the Gospel with a couple on Tuesday. He also explained that if a family is home, once the team is through working on their property, they sign a Bible, present it to the owners, and pray with them.

Unlike the majority of Disaster Relief trips, though, the group doing most of the witnessing this time was the laundry team. Woodhaven Lakes had a laundromat on the facility that they allowed volunteers to use for free. While pouring detergent and folding clothes, Ruth Ann Lusk had multiple opportunities to pray with people.

She said, “We’re actually the ones doing the talking this time. People come in, and we just start talking to them. Or they see our shirts and start talking to us first.” The number of spiritual conversations during the week were numerous, and so far there are two known salvation decisions.

To read another story from this Disaster Relief trip, check out the August 31 issue of the Illinois Baptist.