March 28, 2025
DULUTH, Ga. – Several training events have been scheduled for Georgia Baptists who want to join Disaster Relief crews that minister to victims of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and other natural calamities.
Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Director Dwain Carter said it’s important to have as many people as possible trained and certified to ensure the ministry has the manpower needed to offer help, hope and healing to people in need.
“Anyone who has an interest is welcome to take part,” Carter said after a previous series of trainings in September. “We have people from all walks of life. We have people who have worked in manufacturing and construction. We have nurses and doctors and attorneys. We have one guy who used to be a CFO in a Fortune 500 company.”
Upcoming training sessions will be at:
-- Bethesda Baptist Church in Ellerslie on Jan. 20-21. The deadline to register is January 15.
-- Kingsland First Baptist Church in Kingsland on Feb. 24-25. The deadline to register is Feb. 19.
-- Central Baptist Church in Warner Robins on March 24-25. The deadline to register is March 19.
-- Ebenezer Baptist Church in Toccoa on Aug. 18-19. The deadline to register is Aug. 13.
-- Olivia Baptist Church in Dalton on Sept. 8-9. The deadline to register is Sept. 3.
-- First Baptist Church in Jonesboro on Oct. 6-7. The deadline to register is Oct. 1.
Carter said Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief has been seeing heightened interest in its work with more people signing up for training. Je credits a series of high-profile deployments over the past year.
Georgia volunteers have most recently been serving in the flood-ravaged areas of northwest Georgia and eastern Kentucky, but, since last year, they’ve also been as far away as Louisiana helping hurricane victims and Poland assisting refugees seeking a safe haven away from the war in Ukraine.
“The reason we do what we do is because the Lord told us to treat others like we want to be treated,” Carter had said. “We want to bring hope, help and healing in the midst of chaos.”
Carter said the Disaster Relief ministry relies on an entirely volunteer force, and, therefore, needs lots of people involved to ensure adequate numbers are available to respond when needed. He said work and family commitments understandably make it impossible for all volunteers to deploy to every disaster.
“The more people we have, the faster and longer we can respond to any disaster,” he said. “These volunteers are making a difference in the lives of disaster victims, all the while shining the light of Christ. The Lord uses them in significant ways, and the door is open to anyone who would like to be a part of this important ministry.”
