From a life of disaster to heading up disaster relief

Wade Gayler is heading up the disaster relief ministry for the Salt Lake Association in Utah. Wade was traveling to Cottonwood, Idaho on a mission trip in July of 2001 when Dan Walker, director of missions for the Association, asked him if he would consider taking the leadership role in this ministry.

At first Gayler said, "I have too much on my plate already." However, after much prayer and being convicted by God that he needed to accept the challenge he said, "Yes" to Walker's appeal.

On Veteran's Day in 2002 Gayler stopped by the Association office to visit with Walker and was informed of the tornadoes that had swept through the eastern part of the nation. Georgia had been affected by the severe thunderstorms; and tornadoes had devastated areas of Jasper in Pickens County. Walker asked, "Wade can you go to Georgia to help in the disaster relief effort?" After a few phone calls Gayler was on his way.

The opportunity to see the work of Georgia Baptist's Disaster Relief Units at work and the hands-on experience Gayler received while helping with the effort in Jasper gave Gayler an even greater passion for this ministry. He also credits Jim Richardson, Georgia Baptist's consultant in Disaster Relief Ministries, with helping orient him in the program and assisting in the development of the ministry in Utah.

Since taking on the Disaster Relief responsibility in Salt Lake City the Baptist Association there has purchased a 12-foot cargo trailer, which is being used for cleanup and recovery. This unit is 90% complete. The Association has also secured a feeding unit that is 80% complete and which has been out on five training events. The Association has also been donated a 1-ton RV van to develop a communications unit. A $5,000 check from Georgia has greatly enhanced their ministry; and a shower unit is also being donated by several Georgia Baptist churches and is to arrive in February.

Approximately 60 volunteers have been trained so that they can appropriately respond to the next call to assist in some needed relief work. Gayler says, "It's been remarkable how all of this has come together. It is a God thing."

Another God thing is the amazing transformation that has taken place in Gayler's life. He once was a disaster himself and in need of help personally. He started smoking pot (marijuana) in the seventh grade. As often happens, he began to experiment with first one drug and then another: alcohol, cocaine, mushrooms, and methamphetamines, which were his primary addiction. By the time he was 22 he went from being an addict to selling and manufacturing methamphetamines (speed, crystal meth).

Gayler declares, "I sacrificed my 'normal' lifestyle as a mate and parent for the lifestyle of an addict living on the streets and moving from different addict's homes and doing what I had to do to get high. My only belongings were what I could carry in a backpack so that I could keep on the move."

Gayler was arrested several times in Utah and once in Texas on drug charges. While in a rehabilitation program he went through the motions of committing his life to Christ and was subsequently baptized. He added, "I wasn't sincere at the time, but the seeds of the gospel were planted in my heart; and God began working in my life.

Gayler's sister, Norma Fox, who works for the Utah-Idaho Convention, never gave up on him. Norma and her husband, Steve, prayed for him and took him to church Sunday after Sunday.

Gayler was still living the life of a drug addict, but the weight of the conviction in Texas became an awesome burden. He stated, "I had been in jail in Utah several times, but it never affected me like the issue in Texas. I know now, that had I been put in prison in Utah, my addiction would have progressed, due to the friends I already had in prison and the lack of spiritual guidance."

So on June 2, 1996, Gayler returned to Texas and turned himself in to the police. He was convicted of possession of methamphetamines and given a seven-year prison sentence. Gayler confessed, "As I flew to Texas, knowing that I was facing a certain prison sentence, all I felt was that hollow, emptiness in my heart. I was at a point in my life when something had to change. It was during this time in prison that I truly turned my life over to the Lord and was saved."

Gayler continues, "God took away the hollow, empty feeling inside my chest and replaced it with an inner peace. I was 1,500 miles away from home, locked in a state prison, and had no real friends and no family. I was allowed one five-minute telephone call every 90 days. However, by God's grace I never felt that void, that emptiness again."

After serving 18 months in the Texas prison Gayler was released and returned to Utah where he joined First Baptist Church of West Valley City. Soon thereafter Pastor Jim Harding, former Executive Director of the Utah-Idaho Convention, asked Gayler to give his testimony.

The new church member said, "I had never spoken to such a large group before, but I just told them the truth. I told them that if they had kids on drugs, I was probably the one who sold it to them or manufactured it. If they had something stolen by a drug addict, I probably bought or sold it. I humbled myself before God and these people and what a response! I was embraced by my Christian family and knew that I was where God wanted me to be."

Wade Gayler is now a Sunday School teacher, chairman of the deacons in his church and heads up the disaster relief unit for the Salt Lake Association. God has taken a man whose life was a disaster and transformed him into a man who brings relief to those who have experienced disasters in their lives. What a mighty God we serve!