A quake survivor searches for a missing family member, digging with a shovel while a hired bulldozer removes the rubble of his home.

IMB

Destroyed in the quake was the citadel, an ancient walled city made of clay, sand, and hay. It’s age is approximately 3-4,000 years old. Due to this common brand of architecture, many buildings throughout Bam were reduced to rubble.

Rastus Franklin, a member of Ebenezer Baptist in Dacula, washes dishes in Bam. While in Iran, Georgia Disaster Relief volunteers worked in two separate camps to provide humanitarian aid for the victims.

Charles Maxwell, a member at First Baptist in Brunswick, stirs a pot of beans in preparation for thousands of hungry Iranians. During the time in Bam, Georgia volunteers served 35,000 meals and 700 gallons of tea.

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En route to Bam, workers from Georgia stopped in Dubai, United Arab Emirates to purchase approximately $8,000 in medical supplies, baby formula, coats for adults and children, children’s shoes, and other items.

The Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief team loads up the kitchen used to provide meals for the people of Bam. In working shifts that would often start at 5:30 a.m. and not end until 10 or 11 p.m., volunteers would make thousands of meals each day for victims and aid workers.

Left to right, George Hamilton, a member of East Newnan Baptist; Ken Bryant, a member of Providence Baptist in Fairburn; and Glen McCall, a member of First Metro Baptist in Lawrenceville and interim pastor of North Minster in Conyers, remove debris from the lentils being prepared as part of a meal for the Iranian people.

Iranians wait in line for food at one of the camps. Team member Charles Carey’s concerns about going to Iran were quickly dispelled when he realized the people were not so different from Americans, saying that “most people here are like those back home – just trying to make a living.”