A Southern Baptist volunteer serves food in Gori, Georgia, in Sept. 2008.

Baptist Global Response is one of the ways that state conventions play a direct role in international missions. BGR is basically an extension of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief but with the emphasis placed on responses to international disasters.

Kentucky most recently sent a BGR team to the Philippines in October following massive flooding there that left some 1.2 million homes damaged or destroyed and 400,000 people homeless. While there our volunteers assisted both with “mud-out” projects and with training nationals to safely do the cleanup work themselves.

What has me thinking about BGR right now, however, is an e-mail I received this weekend from Coy Webb, who leads Kentucky Baptist Convention Disaster Relief. Coy was on the team that went to the Philippines but about a year ago, he was also on another BGR team that responded to the crisis in the Republic of Georgia in September 2008 following an invasion by Russian troops. The Southern Baptist volunteers moved into the city of Gori just shortly after the Russian tanks moved out in order to begin feeding thousands of refugees displaced by the fighting.

According to his e-mail, Coy ran into former International Mission Board missionary Barry Corder, who worked with the BGR team in Gori, at our recent KBC annual meeting. Corder is now pastor at Auburn Baptist Church in Auburn, Ky., and gave Coy some follow-up on the the Great Commission work of our BGR team.

Here’s what Coy said:

1. During our ministry, we delivered food each day to an 80-something year old woman and her 100 year old mother . The 100 year old mother was bed-bound and her daughter was unable to leave her for long periods so we took food to them and a few other elderly folks in the area. Every day these dear ladies presented us with colored pencil drawings the 100 year old mother drew as she lay in bed as gifts to us for our ministry to them and the people of Georgia.

We prayed with them each day and shared Christ with them on our last day. Both were open to the Gospel but did not feel that they were ready to make this decision, though both of them expressed deep love for our ministry and gave us tearful embraces as we left them this last day. They even offered me a gift of a small plot of land outside Gori to express their thanks for our ministry and so I would always have a place in Georgia.

I thanked them profusely but shared that I could not take such a gift. I then explained that I had offered this ministry because God had poured out His love unto me and I could not help but to share it with others.

About a month after we left, the 80-something daughter accepted Christ as her Savior and Lord and now is extremely active in the Baptist Church there. The seeds that were planted did result in a harvest. Barry also believes that the mother made a profession as well before passing away.

2. The church where we served continues to go strong. It had an attendance of less than 50 when we arrived, but had almost 200 in worship two weeks after we left. Now running over 300 in attendance and has started two other missions.

The church continues to give testimony of how disaster relief opened a door unto this community for our Savior and thanks God for the DR volunteers who came to serve alongside them in this critical hour.

What tremendous stories of how God uses people who are willing to serve! Coy shared that Corder and his family are doing well and seeking to lead their church to partner with Georgia on some potential mission projects.

To God be the glory!