Indiana Disaster Relief has already had an exciting year with new volunteers being trained and seasoned volunteers being recertified, but this past month has brought even more excitement! Early in the month of June, Indiana Disaster Relief heard some very good news; they were getting a grant for over $35,000 to purchase a Quick Response Unit (QRU)! What is a QRU? It is a small, highly mobile food truck that can be rapidly deployed in emergency situations. Mass feeding units require considerable setup and staff, but the QRU can be in place preparing meals within hours with only two volunteers. This new trailer will be added to the existing fleet of DR vehicles this fall and may even make its debut at the Annual Summit! Butch Porter, State Director of Disaster Relief in Indiana, is looking for a leader to oversee this unit and a church that would serve as the host for housing the unit on their property. If you are interested, please reach out to him at bporter@scbi.org.
The Quick Response Unit is not the only new addition to Indiana Disaster Relief. On May 24th they officially announced the name of the new Indiana Chaplain Coordinator. Craig Standish of Muncie, IN has joined the leadership team and he has already begun serving well. You can find daily devotions from Craig on the Indiana Disaster Relief Facebook page, and you can meet him in person at the next chaplaincy training happening on July 14-15th. Join other chaplain volunteers at New Life Baptist Church in Greencastle for the first chaplaincy training course offered in several years! As well as the two-day chaplaincy training, there is also a one-day training on Saturday, July 15th also at New Life Baptist Church. This one-day training will feature DR 101 as well as many specialized classes. For more information on both trainings, you can visit scbi.org/events.
At the beginning of June, Cindy Henderson from SEND Relief traveled from Georgia to train DR volunteers and leaders. She spent an entire day explaining how to use the Formstack forms used during a national crisis and helping volunteers better understand the administrative processes of Disaster Relief. The following day, a specialized Blue Hat training was offered to several volunteers who will be serving as leaders around the state. Please continue to pray for the leaders of Disaster Relief as they prepare for how God wants to use them in the upcoming months.
June is ending with a look to the future as next June the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention will be held in Indianapolis. Indiana Disaster Relief is looking forward to hosting the Disaster Relief booth in the main exhibit hall during the convention as well as hosting the annual meeting of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief in the days following the convention. Keep your eyes on your emails as we move closer to this important meeting as Indiana Disaster Relief will be looking for volunteers for the booth in 2024! We can’t wait to share the excitement of Indiana Disaster Relief with our convention and tell the stories of all that God is doing in and through our state!