WEST PALM BEACH (FBC)-On Wednesday, Sept. 8 after Hurricane Frances hit, members of First Baptist Church of Tequesta were
racing against time trying the salvage their sanctuary.
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Located on an inlet near Jupiter, the densely populated, affluent community was hammered as the fork of waters made it
especially vulnerable to the wind and rain.
Streets were filled with downed trees, power lines and branches from the storm. Roofs were torn off homes. Yet, a sign
posted outside the Presbyterian church reminded the upscale neighborhood, "We are blessed. Think about it."
The storm had ripped a gaping hole in First Baptist's roof allowing the rain to pour into the sanctuary from its high,
hardwood ceiling.
The furniture, carpeting and electronics in the sound room were water soaked and ruined. Staff and members were yanking
up carpet, taking out pews and emptying contents-hymnal, chairs and Bibles-that had gathered in the sanctuary.
There was an urgency to their task, said Keiron Sharpe, pastor of students and counseling. If they do not get the water-logged
materials out of the building in time, mold and mildew would grow and overtake the sanctuary. As he and two youth struggled
to carry the pews out on the lawn, he added, "No telling when we will get our power back on."
Despite the pressure of time, the workers did not seem stressed. "The Lord has blessed us and now he is teaching us," said
John Mozingo, director of music and education
Many churches in the Palm Lake Baptist Association suffered significant damage, said director of missions John Brackin.
Among the most heavily damaged churches are Barwick Road in Delray Beach, First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, First Baptist
Church in Lake Worth and United Haitian Baptist Church in West Palm Beach.
"The worst I've seen is First Baptist, Lake Worth," said Brackin. "They are talking abut condemning the building."
The sanctuary's roof fell, the electrical wiring was waterlogged and the building was flooded as the steeple rocked back
and forth allowing rain to pour into the facility. Now mold is growing rapidly, compounded by the loss of electrical power
and air conditioning.
Every room in the Christian development center at First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach has water damage, reported Brackin.
The gym floor is buckling, the wellness center equipment is wet and tiles have been swept off the roof.
The Palm Lake Association office in West Palm Beach, located in a former church where five congregations now meet, received
heavy damage. Health officials have posted a "do not enter" notification which bars the congregations from using the building
until the facility has been repaired. The association is covered by insurance but has a steep deductible of $40,000.
Even as the reports of damage increases, Brackin said he was not disheartened. "I am concerned, but we have lost no lives.
The church property belongs to God. It's not our property, we are the caretakers. We will do what we can do, but we will do
only what we can do."
Brackin and his wife refused to evacuate during the storm, putting to use their 12 years experience on the foreign mission
field. Immediately after the storm, he began visiting churches, assessing damages, calling pastors in the association and
even helping at the feeding sites located at associational churches.
Brackin praised the pastors in his association, noting that they stayed on the field throughout the entire crisis, ministering
to their congregation.
On the Thursday after the storm, Richard Englert, pastor of Palm Springs Baptist Church in Lake Worth, was up a tree-church
member Dot Fravel's avocado tree, to be exact, which was threatening to fall on the power lines in her back yard.
The pastor had spent the week after the storm checking on church members and nearby residents, cutting down fallen trees
and removing debris from yards.
Three weeks ago, Englert had been in Arcadia, where he served as pastor at First Baptist from 1982-1997, to help families
after Hurricane Charley. Now he was putting his chainsaw to use closer to home, said his wife, Elizabeth.
"At first I didn't understand why he wanted the chainsaw," she laughingly admitted. "But he has certainly put it to use
in these past few weeks."
Assessing the past week, she reported, "If the power got up I think we'd be OK," said Elizabeth Englert. "But the lack
of air conditioning and the inability to get supplies is just getting everybody down. The winds of this hurricane were not
so bad, but it took so long to pass over, I think it has just beaten our people down."
The Palm Springs church served as a feeding site staffed by disaster relief feeding and recovery volunteers from South
Carolina.
When the team first arrived four days after the hurricane, it was the first time many in the community had received a hot
meal. They quickly began serving as many as 1,000 meals a day.
"One lady asked me why we were here," said volunteer Thomas Edens of Moncks Corner, "I told her that Tennessee Baptist
volunteers had helped us after Hurricane Hugo and when you lived through something like that you know how important it is
for people to show they care."
Other South Carolina disaster relief volunteers arrived at Central Baptist Church in Jupiter, looking like the cavalry.
A dozen gleaming trucks, vans and trailers bearing yellow and blue South Carolina disaster relief stickers and emblazoned
with names of the state's associations-Charleston, Prosperity, Screven, Barnwell, Marion, North Spartan-lined the driveway
and church parking lots.
A small army of 40-50 volunteers traveled to Florida, said Robert Jackson, men's director for the South Carolina Baptist
Convention, who led the group.
Swinging a chainsaw on a huge oak tree laying across church's driveway, Heyward River from Bethel Baptist Church
in Prosperity, S.C. had just returned from Amman, Jordan, where he and other Southern Baptist volunteers distributed Southern
Baptist food to some of the half million Iraqi refugees living there. He was quick to come to Florida, he said, "Because there's
nothing better than helping your neighbors."
The South Carolina team arrived to help in the recovery on Tuesday night. Driving in a multiple vehicle convoy, a semi-truck
had plowed into the rear of a church bus, slamming the vehicle in another team's trailer and pick-up truck. As a result, one
woman was hospitalized and a team of feeding unit volunteers returned home. The trailer with equipment also was lost. The
embattled team regrouped in Brunswick, Ga., where they spent the night before proceeding into Florida on Tuesday.
The Jupiter church staff called all of their church members after the storm, said administrator Bill Paschall. Ninety percent
of the church members lost power, and many suffered leaks from their roofs. "Some of our people were hit hard, but we have
no injuries and everyone is working together. So God is taking care of us."
Despite the peril they had suffered at Frances' hand, Baptists in Palm Lake Association were grateful for God's providence
in the storm.
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