In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers, supported by teams from other states, spread through the affected area. In some cases, they were joined by local college students from Georgia Baptist Collegiate Ministries.
At Northside Baptist Church in Valdosta, where Kentucky and Arkansas volunteers had set up a mobile kitchen and sent chainsaw teams into the community to clear fallen trees, students from Valdosta State University did their part. David Williams, VSU campus minister said, “I am so proud of them. Most days the students served from 6am to 6pm.”
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Keegan Nelms, a senior accounting major, said at first the students were walking around, helping any who needed it. But as the relief response became more organized, Williams and Will McKee, the college pastor at Northside, made it known that the church was being used as a staging area. Nelms said it was clear that “the best way for us to help was to work with the crews already doing the work.”
Nelms and his fellow students helped the meal teams unload huge quantities of food from trucks, staged loaded meal containers for distribution, and joined recovery teams.
‘We’re a community’
Nelms said working in community alongside fellow believers eager to serve those in need was inspiring, and the students were able to form relationships with their fellow workers.
Alessio Williams, a senior in business management, said from the beginning he felt a closeness with the disaster relief volunteers. “They made me feel welcome,” he said. “We were a community, not just working together.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Henry Durand and originally published by the Christian Index.
