Texans bring hope to hurricane-ravaged Grenada_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

Texans bring hope to hurricane-ravaged Grenada

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

For the devastated island nation of Grenada, relief will arrive in the form of Texas Baptists with fryers.

Victim Relief Ministries is working with Texas Baptist Men and the International Salvation Army to start disaster relief camps as soon as possible with a shipload of donated supplies and groups of cookers normally used to fry turkeys.

A team of 34 volunteers, including doctors, Victim Relief Ministries chaplains and Texas Baptist Men cooks is scheduled to leave for Grenada Oct. 4. Victim Relief Ministries is an interdenominational group launched by Texas Baptist Men.

The men are hoping people in Grenada will be drawn to the collections of cookers because they will be one of the few sources of fresh food, said Dick Talley of Dallas, a Texas Baptist Men volunteer who recently returned from a scouting trip to the island.

The Texans then can show residents how to use the cookers effectively for themselves.

From there, Talley said, the plan is for those cooking areas to become distribution sites that eventually will be turned over to the Grenadines as well.

This effort will provide some of the earliest on-the-ground disaster relief work in a nation where more than 90 percent of the buildings were damaged or destroyed. Grenada's electricity flow is spotty at best, Talley said.

Grenada has not received as much news coverage as other regions like Florida and Haiti, but the situation remains serious, and the people there need help, Talley insisted.

“The world does not know Grenada was hit,” he said. “The others made the headlines.”

Victim Relief Ministries needs to raise $90,000 to finance the trip. The group has to fund the volunteers' flight to Grenada. It also must pay for fuel to ship supplies–including 400 tons of tarp–to the island.

Once the volunteers arrive in Grenada, Talley believes, they will bring hope to an island that badly needs it.

Residents are walking around “in a daze,” he said. They are in shock. Communication lines are minimal, and Grenadines do not know where to find help, he added.

This trip will be the beginning of an extended relief effort that later will include agricultural and oceanic engineers who will assess and begin to correct issues with the trees and beneath the ocean, Talley said.

If trees are not planted, the island will remain ripe for the kind of mudslides that killed hundreds in Haiti, he explained.

Service like this leads to opportunities for Christians to share their faith, Talley added.

“Once you've given them hope, they're going to ask you why you do what you do,” he said. “Then you can share the gospel.”

To support this effort, send checks designated “Help Grenada” to Victim Relief Ministries-Grenada, 5351 Catron, Dallas 75227.

To support the overall Texas Baptist disaster relief effort, send designated checks to Texas Baptist Men, 333 N. Washington, Dallas 75246.