FLINT, MICH.—Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief has completed its work in Flint installing water purification systems for those affected by the water crisis throughout the city. Currently, other state disaster relief teams are ministering in the city.

At the invitation of Michigan emergency management officials, five disaster relief teams were sent out on Feb. 15 and returned around Feb. 23.

SecureSomeContent();

During their time in Flint, they had the opportunity to work with Tennessee Disaster Relief teams and various teams through NAMB.

“It was a blessing to be there because we were the guinea pigs; we hadn’t done it before,” Lew Cook, Kentucky DR volunteer since 1992, said. “We made adjustments every day.”

What was especially unique about this situation was that the government actually called in a faith based organization to assist them. The county would receive calls for assistance, and they would pass this information on to DR.

It was “very peculiar for a government entity to ask a faith based group to do something like this. We felt very fortunate. It was just a God thing,” Bill Johnson, DR volunteer since 2009 and former North American Mission Board employee, said.

“While our people were in the homes, they were able to share with the people. We were giving the love of Jesus to people. The number of people that would allow us to pray with them and the number of people that took Bibles from us really surprised us,” Johnson continued.

Cook added, “We were the only contact these people had with a faith based organization.”

In all, the Kentucky DR teams made 23 gospel presentations, saw two decisions for Christ, distributed 135 Bibles and assisted 275 homes.

“We’ve just been given a God-given chance to share with these people, and they are taking advantage of it. We’re taking advantage of it.

“It’s a really good opportunity to serve. It’s not just the actual putting on the filters and changing cartridges, but it is a way for us to have a foot in to witness and talk to people,” Cook concluded. (WR)