TBM volunteers remove obstacles to the gospel in Colorado

JAMESTOWN, Colo.—Texas Baptist Men not only removed tons of sand and gravel from flooded homes and cleared mounds of debris from obstructed roads in Jamestown, Colo. They also removed some obstacles separating residents from God, the director of TBM disaster relief  noted.

“People there will tell you. They moved up there to get away from church, to get away from civilization and to get away from the world,” Terry Henderson said. “We will have opened up some doors to the gospel by the time we have to pull out for the winter, because we have come and stayed to help them.”

Texas Baptist Men disaster relief workers cleared sand and gravel from 30 homes in Jamestown, Colo., with shovels, buckets and wheelbarrows. (TBM PHOTOS)On weekends, the Texas Baptist disaster relief volunteers worked with local officials to help coordinate workers from around Colorado who arrived to help. Due to the limited access, short-term volunteers had to park two miles from Jamestown and hike into town.

In contrast, TBM volunteers were “embedded with the community,” Henderson said, working daily to help residents recover from the damage caused when the James River flooded the mining town northwest of Boulder.

By mid-October, TBM disaster relief workers had cleared sand and gravel from 30 homes with shovels, buckets and wheelbarrows, and they prepared about 1,200 meals. They also had completed 10 chainsaw jobs and clocked 150 hours of work on skid-steers, frontend loaders and other heavy machinery, clearing debris from streets, highways and lawns.

One volunteer team cleared the driveway of the volunteer fire department’s station to make the firetrucks accessible.

Working together

Since some Jamestown residents are miners and engineers experienced in operating heavy earth-moving equipment, they worked side-by-side with the TBM volunteers, Henderson added.

“Working together with the residents, our volunteers have been able to have a big influence,” he said. “Some of these people have been burned by church in the past, and they moved up there to get away. Gradually, they have opened up, and now some are letting us sit and pray with them.”

TBM volunteers also distributed 24 water purifiers to residents. Utility providers gradually restored electricity to most homes in Jamestown after the flood, but residents still lacked clean running water. Although they had access to flowing water in nearby rivers and steams, it was unsafe to drink unless it was treated.

“Some of the people were skeptical at first when they saw our systems, but we ended up giving away every water purification system we brought,” Henderson said.

Winter is coming

TBM volunteers worked in Jamestown about a month. Teams planned to leave between Oct. 28 and Nov. 3 as the ground began to freeze and snow already started falling in mid-October.

“People are winterizing their homes now, and a lot of the residents will be moving into Boulder for the winter,” Henderson said.

Texas Baptists will return to Jamestown in late spring 2014 and work there throughout the summer. The Baptist General Convention of Texas disaster recovery  office will coordinate the long-term effort.