A group of Adventists met in the Dayton area at the end of June. The group was comprised of Allegheny West, Ohio Conference, and Columbia Union Conference members who debriefed on what had happened to date, what current needs were, and what could be done next. Pastor Andrew Mobley, Disaster Response Coordinator for the Allegheny West Conference, led the discussion.
As the Ohio Conference does not have an ACS/DR coordinator at this time, we are grateful for Pastor Mobley’s communication.
One thing stressed during this meeting:
W. Derrick Lea, North American Division’s Associate Director for Adventist Community Services emphasized the need for specialized training. Typically, Adventists oversee the warehousing of materials needed for supporting displaced families, but if pastors or member want to enter disaster areas, they must have the proper training so they can have the credentials which are needed to allow Adventists to provide both the spiritual and physical care of those in need.
Highlights from this meeting:
-
Kettering Church (Ohio Conference)
Dan Schoun (teacher at Kettering College, former teacher at Spring Valley Academy) and elder at Kettering, was asked to represent Kettering church at this meeting. At this timethe Kettering Church is working with a single mother with several children; she was in the tornado area. The church has adopted the whole block of Julie Court, in the North Dayton area. They have brought water, distributed 60 Blessing Bags, gift cards, and clean up trash, cut up overblown trees, and delivered furniture. Working collaboratively with Kettering Health Network. He has worked with the disaster relief in several areas, and took truck filled with supplies to disaster locations.
-
Kettering Church (Ohio Conference)
Bill White, Dan's counterpart at Kettering church. He is a HAM Radio Operator that helps provide access to the communications areas when needed. In this tornado area the cell towers were down as well as phone and power lines for eight days in some areas.
-
Dale Wright Memorial Church (Allegheny West Conference)
Vena West, treasurer at Dale Wright Memorial church in Germantown, was asked to represent the church. They are a small church, and do not have a Community Service Center at this time. The church is willing to help. During the tornados, they passed out food, water and supplies. Looking for areas to help at this time, to team up with other churches.
-
Ethan Temple Church (Allegheny West)
Toni Walker (Evetta), assistant treasurer, shared church members and their Pathfinder Club went out after the tornado. They prepared and distributed burgers, hot dogs, juices, water, energy bars, snacks and cookies to storm victims. Gloves and trash bags were given to the youth to assist with picking up trash off the lawns. A group of young adults went door to door to see if anyone in the remaining homes wanted prayer, water, sandwiches, paper towels, or toiletries. Pastor Kambizi and church elders went out to offer prayer to those in the areas. - Todja Vance, former community service leader, worked under the leadership of others to help the community and to provide refreshments to those who came out to help clean up. They passed out baby need bags with diapers, baby wipes, formula, bottles, and toiletries. At their church they set up "The Grace Room" to distribute remaining supplies. They set up a tornado relief line phone number for those who called or stopped by the church for assistance. They will continue to give out supplies, and monetary aid. They are feeding the children from a neighborhood apartment complex Wednesday evenings before prayer meeting.
-
Tom Onjukka, Good Neighbor House Director (Ohio)
Tom connected with the Salvation Army, and went out to assist in the surrounding communities. He said it was just like going to a third world country, ground zero, trees down, and the smells were all the same. Tom asked individuals offering donations to bring their items to GNH, where he and staff took supplies out to different locations. They also performed wellness checks.
-
Springfield First Adventist Church (Ohio)
Michael Stough, Springfield First pastor and Disciple Ohio coordinator, shared that a member of the Stillwater Adventist Church who suffered from dementia was looked for, for five hours before the storms hit, then the search had to be called off due to the tornados. Unfortunately her life was lost, she was found in a pond five days later, after the tornadoes. Keep church and family lifted in prayer. - Elizabeth Hirtzinger, director of Springfield First Community Services, a paramedic at Springfield fire department, and a Dayton Public School teacher for four years. She had students and coworkers affected by the tornados. She took three car loads of water to Mt. Enon Baptist Church, two Car loads out to a hotel in Miamisburg that was housing Dayton Public School students and families. A load of water to the Good Neighbor House. She just started in April as the director, she advertised on Facebook her rummage sales and everything she was involved in to help. So kind of stuck about what to do next, knowing this is a long term problem process.
One question to address: Who are the Adventist Churches and what are they doing?
The question now becomes: Can we be doing more to help each other do what we need to do? How to coordinate? How do we volunteer?
For those interested in learning more or in taking a more active role in disaster preparedness, another meeting will be held at Dayton’s Church of Seventh-day Adventist, Sunday, August 4, 10:00 AM-12:00 Noon.
If you have any questions about this gathering, contact Michael Stough at michael.stough@ohioadventist.org or call 740.324.7447.