A busy year in DR

By Dennis Belz, CBDR State Director

Throughout this year, our CBDR volunteers along with SBDR states from SC, AZ, UT, MO, TX, and KS were able to complete the assigned work that was left from when we
had to cease our efforts last year due to the winter snows and cold temperatures.

From January through May, I met several times with the Emergency Manager, County Commissioners, and other local officials to get everything set up for us to be prepared to return to complete the clean-up effort from last fall’s E. Troublesome Fires. These meetings were very beneficial and resulted in most of our expenses being covered by the county and funding from the Grand Foundation. Our teams were housed at the YMCA Snow Mountain Ranch, which was plush compared to our usual housing on cots in local churches. Stillwater Community Chapel in Grand Lake allowed us to use their property to set up our mobile command unit and use their facilities. This was a great location as it was central between the two main areas in which we worked.

On June 7, a tornado hit in Platteville, CO, causing severe damage to a relative’s home of our Semi Feeding unit truck driver. Within two days, CBDR had volunteers on the ground assisting this family in cleanup, and collecting and packing their remaining belongings for storage.

At the time of this writing, CBDR has deployed two of our volunteers to work with the Incident Management Team (IMT) in Alexandria, Louisiana. We also have been asked to be stand-by for setting up our CBDR Mobile Laundry Unit in Baton Rouge to help with laundry for 200 plus volunteers. More storms are in the Atlantic and we are keeping an eye on those as many people are still digging out from Hurricane Ida. Thank you for your prayers and support for your Colorado Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers as we deploy and minister to those in need not only in Colorado, but also in other states.

During this last deployment in Colorado, it was discovered that two of our vehicles and trailers will need to be replaced as they are not strong enough for the work we do in the mountainous regions of our state. Please pray for provision as we begin to search for replacement vehicles and equipment.

CBDR was greatly supported by the County Emergency Manager, County Commissioners, and the Grand Foundation. It was a pleasure serving and ministering to the areas of Granby and Grand Lake as we received much support and encouragement from the communities and local businesses. 

We had a surprise visit while working on a property in Grand Lake. A couple stopped by to speak with us and thanked us for the ministry we were doing. None of us recognized them until they introduced themselves. It was our new SBC President Ed Litton and his wife! We had a great time of fellowship as they encouraged us and prayed for all our volunteers and for those who lost homes in the fire. You never know who you’re going to meet! 

Though we don’t know what the rest of 2021 will bring, CBDR will be ready to deploy and do our best to serve the needs that arise. Would you or your church like to join one of the most active ministries in the SBC? We are always looking to add volunteers to our team as we work hard Bringing: Help, Hope and Healing!