Disaster Recovery schedules Galveston family mission trip

image_pdfimage_print

GALVESTON—Texas Baptists’ Disaster Recovery ministry will sponsor a family-oriented mission trip to Galveston July 26-31. 

Volunteers will spend mornings on the worksite and afternoons on vacation, organizers said.

“While all ages and types of people are invited, we wanted to focus on families on mission,” said Marla Bearden, disaster response specialist for Texas Baptists. “Spending time as a family, serving others in Jesus’ name, is a wonderful way for any family to spend a few days together, and why not in Galveston?”

galveston urban ministries389Some volunteers on the trip will work with Galveston Urban Ministries, a group devoted to Christian community development in areas like children and youth programs and job training. (Photo: Galveston Urban Ministries)During the mission trip, families—as well as church groups and individuals—can help Galveston residents in their continued effort to recover from Hurricane Ike, which hit the island in 2008.

Texas Baptists’ Disaster Recovery has partnered with First Baptist Church in Galveston and Galveston Urban Ministries to help provide housing, assess community needs and assign mission projects. 

Nathan Mahand, minister of outreach and education at First Baptist, said his church members are excited and honored to host the disaster recovery teams. 

“It’s a way for us to give back to Texas Baptists after they gave so much after Hurricane Ike,” he said. “Now, we’re able to house people here who can help the community rebuild.”

Disaster recovery work for Texas Baptists began with Hurricane Ike through the Church2Church Partnerships program, Bearden said, in which Texas Baptist churches partnered with more than 75 disaster-affected churches to help them rebuild. 

This summer in Galveston, volunteers will be assigned projects such as Vacation Bible School activities, home construction and repair jobs, lawn mowing and community beautification.


Sign up for our weekly edition and get all our headlines in your inbox on Thursdays


Teams will work from 9 a.m. to noon daily and have afternoons free for time at the beach or at local attractions, such as the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier, Moody Gardens or the Lone Star Flight Museum.

At $120 per person, families will receive meals and housing at First Baptist Church in Galveston for the entire week. Texas Baptist Men will provide shower trailers.

For $75 per person, families will receive meals and may book rooms at one of two hotels listed on the website or find housing on their own, but Texas Baptists’ Disaster Recovery personnel recommend early booking since hotels fill up quickly.

For more information, visit the Texas Baptists’ Disaster Recovery web page  or contact Marla Bearden at [email protected] or Gerald Davis at [email protected].


We seek to connect God’s story and God’s people around the world. To learn more about God’s story, click here.

Send comments and feedback to Eric Black, our editor. For comments to be published, please specify “letter to the editor.” Maximum length for publication is 300 words.

More from Baptist Standard