20 years of Christian love in action
By Jessica Brodie
WEST COLUMBIA—Missioners headed to Mount Hebron United Methodist Church Nov. 16 to celebrate 20 years of the South Carolina United Methodist Volunteers in Mission’s Early Response Team.
The ERT started in 2004 after South Carolina narrowly missed four back-to-back hurricanes. South Carolina United Methodist Volunteers in Mission provided a ten-foot trailer for the new program, and North United Methodist Church in the Orangeburg District donated $4,000 to purchase tools. That fall, a team of ten from that church gathered in North UMC member Billy Robinson’s backyard to put shelving in the trailer and mount the tools. They had no chainsaws or heavy equipment, but they were ready to roll when the time came.
Since then, South Carolina’s UMVIM Early Response Team has done just that—rolled into action on countless disaster calls to rescue people from dangerous situations and give them restoration of hope, care and the love of Jesus Christ as members of the family of God.
Throughout the past 20 years, the ERT ministry has evolved into a program with 10 fully equipped response trailers and hundreds of volunteers, with thousands more trained to go into communities after a disaster to do whatever God requires. Over the years, they have responded to every hurricane and major tornado outbreak in the Southeast, mucking out flooded homes, tarping crumpled roofs and using chain-saws to extricate people trapped by fallen trees.
On Nov. 16, 80 people gathered at Mount Hebron UMC for a day to celebrate the fruits of the ministry.
Attendees gathered at 10 for greetings and fellowship, followed by music from Beaver Creek Gospel Band and a book signing for “God’s Disaster Warriors: Into the Disaster Zone with South Carolina’s UMVIM Early Response Team,” the brand new ERT book from the Advocate Press covering the ministry’s work over the past 20 years.
Similar mission-oriented books from the Advocate Press were also available for signing and sale: “Eyes for Haiti” about the UMVIM eye clinic in Jeremie, Haiti, by Dr. Hal Crosswell; “Send Me! The Story of Salkehatchie Summer Service,” by Arlene Andrews, the Rev. John Culp and the late Art Dexter; and “Faith In Action: Stories Of Salkehatchie Summer Service,” by Culp.
After a lunch of pulled pork provided by Don Beatty, attendees enjoyed a program of thanksgiving through ERT videos, speakers and storytelling of special experiences and inspirational moments throughout the years.
“We had a very good time celebrating what Jesus had done over 20 years of our ministry, which was projected in 18 20x-30-inch posterboards full of photos over the years highlighting all the mission work done as God’s hands and feet to others in need throughout the Southeast,” Robinson said.
For more on the ERT and how to get involved, visit https://www.umcsc.org/disaster.
To purchase the ERT book or any of the other books listed above go to https://advocatesc.org/books.