Disasters strike! People die!  People lose all of their earthly possessions!  People hurt! It seems that we hear about disasters striking almost on a daily basis. As Christians, how do we respond?

The purpose of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief is to help victims of natural and man-made disasters—such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and terrorist attacks in North America and overseas. The ministry of SBDR has grown out of the natural desire for Christians to reach out in love and action, meeting the urgent needs of hurting people in crises. Perhaps the logo itself says it best. The arch of the Southern Baptist Convention is our worldwide link. The wheat is a symbol of physical help, and the fish is the symbol of spiritual help. Disaster-relief volunteers wear this logo proudly. God has blessed the ministry of disaster relief in New Mexico!

New Mexico Baptist Disaster Relief can boast about the number of units available: two feeding units, one water purification unit, one shower unit, two recovery units, two power units, two rapid-response teams, an incident command unit, one disaster ministry advocate unit (chaplain), one communications unit, one childcare unit and a drivers group. All of these units need people in order for them to function. New Mexico has more than 700 trained volunteers ready to deploy when called.

Guidelines for Disaster Relief Volunteers:
All DR volunteers must be trained and/or certified in the area where they are working. Volunteers must be credentialed and have Disaster Relief photo identification badges issued by BCNM.  Because they represent New Mexico Baptists, all DR volunteers will agree to the policies described by BCNM. Failure to comply with any part of this agreement will result in removal of DR credentials and if on assignment, the volunteer may be sent home. All volunteers agree to conduct themselves in a Christ-like manner.

New Mexico Disaster Relief Organization:
Disaster Relief Ministry is coordinated through the Missions Mobilization Team of the BCNM.   As the ministry of DR continued to grow, the need to organize and multiply the leadership of DR became evident.  NMBDR's coodinator is Ira Shelton.  Additionally, there is a White Hat leadership team.  Regioinal Coordinators lead in defined geographic areas of the state. 

Central Region: Kenneth and Conni Clair
Eastern Region:  Dick Ross
San Juan Region: Joe O’Neal
Southeastern Region: Cathy Pennington
Mountain Valley Region:  Bart Montgomery
Southern Rio Grande Region:  Mike Shriver
North Central Region: Rick and Laurie Lauer