One of the outstanding ministries of the Georgia Baptist Convention is our disaster relief ministry under the leadership of Stuart Lang. Stuart, who recently joined our staff, has plunged into this ministry thoroughly in a very short period of time. You will be glad to know that when the tornadoes hit Alabama and Georgia recently that your Georgia Baptist disaster relief units responded to the needs across Georgia.

Feeding units, cleanup and recovery units, supply units, communication units, childcare units, and many Georgia Baptist volunteers manning these units have already provided over 1,200 hours of ministry in the disaster areas. Georgia Baptists are making a huge difference in the lives of hurting people in the disaster areas of our state.

Disaster relief ministry is made possible through your contributions to the Cooperative Program. We are grateful for the extended ministry of every Georgia Baptist church that supports the Cooperative Program and thus connects their church to its Acts 1:8 responsibility in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost.

Certainly one of the things that we have learned about disasters is that during times such as these the hearts of the people who have been impacted by disaster are uniquely open to the ministry of Georgia Baptists. Their hearts are tender to the Gospel and our disaster relief workers will have multiple opportunities to lead individuals to faith in Jesus Christ.

We know, of course, that Jesus is the one who can make sense out of a disaster. This happens when Georgia Baptist volunteers give of their time and energies to communicate that Jesus Christ is the answer to every need that we have in this life and He is the only one who can put things back together for us in times of disaster.

Georgia Baptists express a very special thank you to Stuart Lang and to all of those who serve with him in disaster relief ministry. Thank you for giving of yourselves so unselfishly to help the hundreds and even thousands of people who are hurting in a unique way during these days.