According to Howard Burke, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Omega, his congregation is made up of "average folks."

With about 80 attending Sunday School each week, the church located 10 miles southwest of Tifton nevertheless gave $47,000 to missions last year. That spirit of giving continued this year when it donated $5,000 to Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief to aid tsunami victims in Southeast Asia.

In doing so, the folks in Omega joined nearly 300 churches, individuals and groups to give a total of $541,834 to the cause as of mid-April. This was given in addition to money Georgia churches funneled to the International Mission Board's relief effort in Richmond, Va.

Members of Bethel believe the generosity of Christians provides a strong testimony to the love of the gospel.

"This just shows that Christian love reaches everyone regardless of their faith. We give because God has given to us, and that is the message we want to send around the world," says deacon chairman Billy Willis.

"The amazing thing is that whenever we decide to help someone we never seem to miss the funds. God just replaces it before we know it's missing."

Former U.S. Marine Harold Bennett, who served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, said he was pleased for the church to send the money.

"God has blessed us as a country and me personally through the years. I believe he intends for me to share those blessings with others so they can know Him."

Fellow member Buddy Hartsfield agreed.

"God has blessed us so much it would almost be wrong for us not to respond to those who are hurting. What's amazing to me is that in some ways I see this church as a funnel from heaven. God honors our giving by opening up the vaults of heaven and just pouring more into our treasury."

"We as a church have a primary emphasis on missions and outreach," said Burke. "After [the subject of giving] was brought up in a deacons meeting, we called a business meeting about giving the funds.

"Our members do the same kind of thing if someone in our community needs help."

Members of New Bethel Baptist in Dublin were also among those who gave. The church, which averages 105 in Sunday School, initially gave $5,000 for the effort. Another member later added $200 to the fund.

Pastor Grady Mimbs said the giving came on the heels of a year where God had blessed the church.

"The Lord had been so good to us," said Mimbs, whose church had also given $1,000 to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. "We were planning on building a fellowship hall and had $70,000 in funds; however, the lowest bid was $229,000.

"The church decided to go ahead and hire someone to build the outside of the structure. Our people would then build everything on the inside, which included hanging sheetrock and installing things like the air conditioning, plumbing and electricity."

Mimbs said the church began constructing the inside of the building with the money already gathered, the intent being to "go as far as possible with the money."

"[Donations] kept coming in to the point that when we finished the building we had spent only $142,000," said Mimbs. "Not only did the funds cover the cost of the fellowship hall, but there was extra to donate for the tsunami relief."

Ministry groups and individuals have also opened their wallets and purses for tsunami aid. Nickie Barnes, Girls in Action director for Spring Branch Baptist Church in Baxley, stated that a testimonial from two men involved in the relief effort prompted her group to give $100.

For Carl Gillespie, the individual donation he gave resonated with previous experience the retiree had with construction.

"I've done a lot of work with Georgia Baptist Builders and some of the individuals in that group have been in Central America," said Gillespie, a member of First Baptist Church in Abbeville. "I knew there were similar needs [in the areas hit by the tsunami]."

Last fall, Gillespie sold some property. Upon hearing of the destruction in Indonesia, he knew where the money would go.

"The living conditions of the people over there are, of course, even worse [than in Central America]. I wanted to help," he said.

The passage in Matthew 25:35-40 on "doing unto the least of these" came to Bill Young when he heard of the tsunami tragedy and ultimately led to his donation.

Young, who teaches a men's Bible class at New Providence Baptist Church in Guyton, was at home when he heard of the disaster.

"My first thoughts were 'How soon can we get aid to them?'" said Young, a retiree who practiced law in Savannah for 50 years.

Burke said that an ongoing emphasis on missions and service in his church has led members into a culture of giving.

"We believe the Lord has allowed the church to nearly triple in attendance, membership and outreach opportunities as a result of offerings to those in need," said Burke.