For the people of Guam, just a few weeks after Typhoon Mawar hit the island in May, it seemed the public had forgotten about the damage and their ongoing need.
But for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers, the work was just beginning. And for Jennifer Smith, an Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer from Jacksonville, Illinois, the two weeks she served in Guam in September were hard, hopeful and a regular part of her missions commitment.
Relief groups worked cooperatively with Hawaii-Pacific Baptist Convention and Send Relief, a joint project of the International and North American Mission Boards. Smith joined state DR teams from Arizona and Oklahoma as a chaplain, and sometimes did construction work as well.
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“One of the teams arrived without a chaplain,” Smith told her congregation, Lincoln Avenue Baptist Jacksonville, so she served with them as a chaplain.
“God put an amazing team together with just the right people,” she recalled.
In all, nine Baptist state conventions have sent teams to work on a project the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is calling “Guam Strong.” Teams arrived every two weeks in late August and throughout September, at the same time HPBC was developing relief plans for Maui, led by Illinois natives John and Gay Williams, originally from Granite City.
A first look at the island didn’t reveal a lot of damage since much of the urban areas had already been cleaned up. But the scene was different outside the cities. Volunteers were assigned to remote homeowners who were lower on the priority list.
Homes to receive repair orders had to be occupied by the homeowner and sometimes that was complicated. People had to find documents to prove ownership, so non-profit groups including Southern Baptist Disaster Relief tried to get to those who had been waiting for help.
The work was difficult and the tropical weather was hot — 85–90 degrees and humidity above 85% most days.
Smith said she saw three homes completed. Her team also finished up some other jobs that had been left by previous teams, but more important, the teams reported two professions of faith among the spiritual ministry they provided.
Millie’s story
Some volunteers from Kansas City, Missouri helped a woman named Millie. She had moved into a structure she and her husband built next door to her aging mother. They had just completed the home, which was essentially a bedroom with an outdoor cooking area under an awning, but it was blown away by the high winds in May.
A month later, Millie’s husband died of a heart attack. As crews set out to restore Millie’s home, they shared a Bible with her and helped her begin reading the Gospel of John. A week or so later, as the home repair was completed, a chaplain followed up with her and she prayed to receive Christ. A local Southern Baptist church is following up for discipleship.
Teams also described a woman who was walking on a jungle path and kicked a coconut out of the way. She said she felt she had disturbed some of her ancestor spirits, and when she later got sick she was sure it was due to kicking the coconut.
Disaster Relief volunteers shared Scriptures with her and encouraged her to pray to God in the name of Jesus to ask for help with her anxiety. The woman said she had heard of God but had never heard of Jesus.
They gave Bibles to the family, and the father said he believed in God. The team is praying the gospel seeds planted will sprout.
‘Wow! We will have a house now!’
Smith also described sowing gospel seeds during her two weeks in Guam. At one site, “there were seven kids living under tarps there by the jungle. The home was constructed out of a shipping container. We framed it out to become a house. When the kids returned home from school their faces lit up. They said, ‘Wow! We will have a house now!’”
One home had a “very dark spiritual atmosphere around it. It seemed like an evil location,” Smith recalled. The homeowner, Melvin, hinted that some sinful activities took place there. He knew Smith was a chaplain and it seemed he was trying to shock her.
The teams tried to share Christ with Melvin, but he would always divert the conversation. Near the end of the project Smith said she brought up Christ again. She told Melvin she had traveled 8,000 miles and had taken off work for two weeks to work on his damaged home.
He tried to dispute that, saying she was being paid by FEMA. When Smith said no, she was volunteering her time and efforts, that seemed to stop his objections. Melvin listened to the gospel and did not try to divert the conversation. The teams pray seeds they planted will take root in Melvin’s heart, and that he will come to Christ.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Richard Nations and published by Illinois Baptist. Portions of this article appeared in the Pathway.
