Love in Crisis
Serving in Times of Need
Oakland has been active in disaster response for decades, sending out teams and individuals to various sites in response to events such as hurricanes, ice storms, and floods whenever called upon, both in Virginia and as far as New York, Florida, and Texas. As a local church, we only respond upon request from one of our state conventions: the Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) or the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (SBCV). They, in turn, coordinate and work with the national Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), other state conventions, and various other disaster response organizations, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), state and local governments, and the American Red Cross. To avoid a chaotic response, we only go when and where our aid is requested.
We have operated emergency feeding stations, cleared out downed trees, cleaned out flood-damaged homes, and helped to rebuild homes and churches. The initial response occurs in the days and weeks immediately following the disaster, while rebuilding may continue for several months.
Participants typically must be trained in advance for some callouts (such as emergency feeding), but others (such as rebuild projects) allow for on-site training. (Occasionally, the requirement for training in advance may be waived if sufficient personnel are on-site to provide training.)