As progress continues assessing and addressing the needs of those affected by recent tornadoes, an Oklahoma Baptist Incident Command Center has been set up at Claremore, Kings Road.

“We have also had teams stay at Salina, First,” said DR Director Jason Yarbrough. “The church family, with help from other congregations, have prepared and served meals to the teams working in that community. This partnership has been a blessing, and helped us to spend more time serving in the community and less time on the road.”

Yarbrough added that being part of the network of state conventions that all have DR ministries has proven to be a tremendous benefit during this storm season.

“We have welcomed teams from New Mexico, Kansas/Nebraska, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina helping us serve the communities in NE Oklahoma,” he said. “To date, we have received more than 250 work requests in the Claremore, Pryor, Salina, and surrounding communities and completed approximately 100 of those as of Sun., June 2.

Assessors and chaplains have been having good conversations with homeowners, and, together with the volunteers on the teams, have had dozens of ministry contacts and Gospel conversations.”

The first week of response saw an average of 90 Oklahoma DR volunteers on the field each day, plus others on out of state teams. This response will continue at least through next week, and is likely to extend into the following week.

“This Saturday, June 8, we will offer an orientation and credentialing opportunity for those who are interested in becoming a part of the DR team,” Yarbrough said. “We will present this at our incident command site, Kings Road Church, 2450 Kings Road, in Claremore. Registration (In person only) is from 8:30-9 a.m., with the orientation beginning after that, and the event concludes with lunch around noon. I am excited about doing this orientation while we are deployed as it gives potential volunteers the opportunity to see first-hand what a deployment set-up/operation looks like.”

Cost to attend the orientation for new volunteers is $30 and $20 for returning volunteers needing to renew badge and for college students, and is payable that day (cash or check only).

More info about the training can be found on the Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief Facebook page.

To make a financial donation to Oklahoma Baptist DR, visit www.okdisasterhelp.org.