(Rev. Chris Ackerman) - The last couple of weeks have been busy for Disaster Response Ministry in the AWFUMC. On January 9
th multiple tornados ran through our conference leaving trails of damage in their wake. While several areas were hit, including many rural and commercial areas, the areas that had the most residential impact were the Grand Lagoon Panama City, Fl and just outside of Marianna, FL. Thankfully it appears that no lives were lost. We have handed out hundreds of cleaning buckets as well as tarps. We partnered with several local ministries and nonprofit organizations as hundreds of households were helped. We were directly engaged in providing damage assessments, helping families dig through their rubble to find pictures and valuables, dismantling a roof that had completely ripped off its walls, and yes, helping one family find their lost miniature potbellied pig.
At one residence, our Dothan FUMC Early Response Team, who was joined by one member of FUMC Panama City, was helping the homeowner drag trees to the street. Meanwhile, the family pet, named Chris P. Bacon, was able to wander off due to the property fences being torn down by the tornado. While I was the first to spot the little Houdini, I could not take much credit for finding him as he was hiding in the bushes under our noses all along. Nevertheless, it brought great relief to its owner to know that he was found.
You never know what you might encounter as an ERT team deploying to a disaster, but this story of the lost pig is a great reminder that you don’t necessarily need to be able to get on a roof or haul large branches to the street to be an ERT. Sometimes you only need to be willing to look for a lost pig. If you are interested in becoming an ERT in our conference please reach out to me, Chris Ackerman, at
chris@awfumc.org. Seriously, we need you!
We are so thankful for our wonderful partnership with United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) as they provided us with a solidarity grant in the amount of $10,000 within days of the tornados hitting our conference. These funds have been used as direct assistance for storm survivors.
Please consider giving to UMCOR!
A BIG thank you to all our ERT’s who showed up to help! They came from Dothan, Panama City, and Fairhope United Methodist Churches!
