July 2014 Newsletter

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Winter 2014 Newsletter by Ronda Corn

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December 2012 Newsletter

December 2012 Newsletter

Summer 2012 Newsletter

(click on button in lower right corner to see newsletter in fullscreen) 2012 Summer News

Minot Miracles and Other Stuff

One Day at a Time
Many of you have asked, how was Minot, ND? We wanted to share with you some of our experiences while serving with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief in Minot for six weeks. God showed up in a mighty way and we were front row to see His hand at work!
We arrived in Minot, ND on August 18th knowing that we had a lot to absorb in just a few hours. The recovery operation was up and running at full steam and the baton had been passed from Incident Commanders, Leon White to Jack Shelby to Ed Greene to Stuart Lang and now to Randy Corn. The turnover of responsibilities began the minute we arrived as Stuart was leaving the following morning. The first couple of days are somewhat overwhelming and then you begin to settle in to the reality of the disaster. This disaster was caused by torrential rains locally and in Canada. In addition, water had to be released from dams in Canada which came down the Souris River and compounded the flooding. Several thousand homes had been under water and Southern Baptist were there to help the home owner’s mud out and prepare for rebuild.

Disaster initiates many changes and creates new norms for those who have lost so much. It propels neighbors to help neighbors and communities to come together for the better of others. It calls for God’s people to reach out and be Jesus to the hurting and hopeless. It mobilizes churches together for the greater means and so this call out brought together the Body of Christ, opening doors and opening hearts for the work to be done. We worked hand in hand with North Hill Baptist Church, Cross Roads Baptist Church, Bethel Free Lutheran, Our Redeemer Lutheran, and Living Waters Assembly of God. All opened their doors for our volunteers to be housed. When God’s people work together for His glory, it is a beautiful picture!

Working DR is exciting but after a few weeks tiredness tends to take over. In the midst of this tiredness your mind starts to wonder off and sometimes you just hit a wall. There are days that spur us on with a renewed spirit and we realize that God is fully in control and we just need to do our best and He will do the rest.

The Incident Command Post located in the parking lot of North Hill BC was the disaster headquarters and a gravitational point for all. The day always began with 3 knocks and the cracking of the door handle and here they came. Discussions included securing food for the feeding unit or manning a recovery team or propane for the laundry unit and shower units. We often had visits from community locals who were looking for help mudding out their homes; we had a visit from a mom and four children looking for a safe place to stay due to domestic violence, homeless people looking for a warm bed and then some came in just wanting to talk. We would listen to their stories and help if we could and sometimes just pray with them. Yes, the Southern Disaster Command Post was a standing lighthouse to the people of Minot, ND.

Early one morning Randy left the Command Post to attend a meeting in the church. As he started to the church an elderly lady was slowly walking toward him with a walker. He stopped and greeted her and asked how he could assist. She worriedly responded that another volunteer agency had worked on her house and she was concerned that our DR Volunteers would not complete the work. Randy was quick to calm her and explain to her that this was not a problem and that when her name came up on the list, we would send a team out. With tears running down her cheeks she looked into Randy’s eyes and asked if he knew the story in the Bible where Jesus washed the disciple’s feet. He responded, “Yes mam, I do know that story.” She then said, “That is what you folks are doing; you are washing the feet of the people of Minot just like Jesus washed the disciples feet.” Wow what a humbling thought!

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief worked closely with The Salvation Army throughout this call out. They are strong believers in Christ and truly see disaster as we do, an opportunity to point the hurting and displaced to the One who can truly change their lives.

The day begins with a 6:30 AM visit to the Command Post to start the furnace and warm things up. Breakfast at 7:00 and devotion under the big white tent. By 7:30 we are in full swing in the Command Post with our recovery Blue Hats getting their work orders for the day, talking with Operations about the houses and the work that needs to be completed. Logistics is busy filling the supply orders of N95 masks, rubber gloves, Tyvek suits and Shockwave, all needed for the removal of mud and grime from the homes. Daily reports are completed and turned in to Admin as plans are being made for new arrivals. The phones are ringing and the IC Commander is busy taking calls. The doors open and close many times and at 8:30 AM we shift our thoughts to a conference call to discuss issues, problems and praises with our support team at the North American Mission Board.

September 2nd did not start out any different than the days prior. The sun shining and the buzz of the volunteer teams, the hum of the generator and reefer (refrigerator unit) sitting outside, the feeding team working like busy bees preparing the 2000 or so meals for the day and the usual busyness of our IC team, checking emails, talking to the Blue Hats, and solving each issue one by one. By late afternoon the teams begin their return home for the dinner meal. We had no idea our Lord was about to give us a glimpse of how He works and we were right in the middle of it all. Robert and Peggy, a DR Chaplain couple and former IMB Missionaries from Louisiana came to the command post to drop off their daily report. Peggy talked of their day, having prayed with several people at the job site and of a visit from the Mayor. As Peggy finished her stories her face became more serious and she asked that we remember she and Robert in prayer as their town in Louisiana was experiencing a brush fire and several homes were in its path. We decided to form a small circle and pray for them right then. They were grateful for the prayers as we went back to our work and they went back to the tent to wait for supper. By the time we arrived for supper Peggy and Robert had received an update that the fire had taken about 10 homes in the area where they lived and their home was in the direct line. Their family members in Louisiana were given permission to go in, get their animals, their car and some personal belongings as the fire was quickly raging toward their home. Peggy and Robert decided to begin their 2-3 day journey that night instead of the next morning, not knowing what they would find upon arrival.

Under the supper tent, Randy called the DR Volunteers to a time of prayer for Peggy and Robert. He asked for all Chaplains, pastors, and anyone who wanted to come forward to pray. A huge circle formed around this sweet couple and God’s people began to pray. We prayed specifically for God’s will to be done, but also asked for favor and that God would perform a miracle and turn the fire away and spare their home. After praying with the them, they immediately felt a peace that came upon them and relinquished their fears and acknowledging God’s will even if it meant losing their home. And indeed God did hear our prayers and perform a miracle! Robert and Peggy called the next morning to report that just before the fire reached their home, the wind changed directions, the fire jumped a lake and their home was spared! Our awesome God surely does control the wind and the fire! We are praising Him for this miracle.

The second miracle was with the Utah/Idaho team. Our good friend Wade Gayler came into the Command Post to give us his daily report. The UT/ID team had been working at a house when the homeowners came by. As the team began to talk with the homeowners it was very obvious that they were very stressed and frustrated about their situation. They had been displaced from their home and were waiting to hear from FEMA regarding delivery of a temporary mobile trailer. After hearing the homeowner’s story the team ask if they could pray for this family regarding their mobile home delivery. The team prayed for the family and then began to pack their tools as they had finished the work. The husband walked to his truck to get his phone and found a new voicemail….it was the voicemail letting them know that their FEMA mobile home was being delivered. Needless to say there was joy in the camp!

This same day, so jam packed with miracles had more good news and this news is the kind that rocks heaven. The Bible is clear when it says that the angels rejoice when one acknowledges Jesus as their Lord and Savior. So when we got the news that five people had decided to follow Jesus we could almost hear the party taking place as we celebrated the new decisions.

In late August we were informed that on September 15th The Salvation Army was closing down their operation in Minot. During a Nationally declared disaster, The Salvation Army and/or the Red Cross generally provide the food and the SBDR provides the mobile kitchens and volunteers to prepare the food for distribution to the local shelter and community. Effective 9/15, we would need to provide food for our DR volunteers scheduled to be in Minot through the end of the month. As we began to look at this situation we decided a call to pray would be in order. Randy shared the concern with our IC team at the daily staff meeting and at supper with the 100 or so DR volunteers under the big tent where we ate our meals. Our specific prayer request was that God would provide provision for our DR volunteers but that it would be in abundance so that we could share with others. Our IC team began to put the word out and meet with local stores and churches. We prayed, we believed and we waited to see how God was going to provide for the volunteers.

Ladies and Gentlemen let me submit to you that our Father is still feeding 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Here is how the story ended, The Salvation Army donated the remainder of the food in the refrigerator unit, the dry goods and canned goods on site. Our Lady of Grace, a Catholic food pantry in Minot donated $2,000, 3 churches in ND donated $1,000 each, SB volunteers gave a total of $500 and Wal-Mart donated a $500 gift card. God abundantly blessed way beyond our thoughts or dreams. After it was said and done we had an abundance of food left over at the end of the operation. Now we were praying about where to give all of this additional food?

As Randy was brushing his teeth and preparing to leave Minot on September 18th for a Camper on Mission speaking engagement in TN, he felt the Lord speak to him with instruction for the additional food. The instruction was to give the additional food to the volunteers that would be coming into Minot to begin the rebuild. On Tuesday, September 20th, at the RCC town meeting, a gentleman from the local Presbyterian Church stood to announce that the church wanted to continue to feed the many volunteers coming to help with rebuild but they did not know where the food would come from. That was our queue to announce that God had abundantly supplied for us and that we had left over food and supplies to donate. In the end, we loaded out 6 truck loads of canned goods and gave all the frozen food in the refrigeration unit to the remaining volunteers. All that we needed was miraculously provided for!

God always teaches us lessons and our greatest lesson from this call out was that He is surely in control. He provided our needs when he sent us an unexpected laundry team, provided power wash teams just in time, food in abundance. Dumpsters, a forklift, pallet jack, and four porta johns were left until the end of the month by The Salvation Army at no cost. The big picture is….God works out every detail, just like a chess game, strategically moving each piece, calculated and precise until the board is cleared. In this case, the parking lot was precisely cleared of all equipment the evening before our departure. We are still in awe when we think about our 6 weeks in Minot, North Dakota and God’s daily handiwork! We feel humbled way beyond measure to have had this opportunity to serve!

Thanks to all the IC Teams, DR Volunteers from 25 state conventions, along with our DR support team at NAMB for making this callout a Kingdom building event. To God be the glory for the 75 professions of faith.

Until All Know HIM, Randy & Ronda

Why Not Minot

Dear Friends & Family,

We have been serving in Minot, ND since 8/18 and we plan to be here to close down the operation at the end September. Randy is serving as the Incident Commander and Ronda is serving in Administration, for the Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief response. We are supporting the Dakota Baptist Convention at the request of the North American Mission Board. Several thousand homes were flooded when the Souris River ran over its banks after heavy rains and a lot of snow melt in Canada. We are only 50 miles or so from the Canadian border. Canada received torrential rains and were forced to open flood gates and release additional water which came down the Souris into Minot.

We have a Disaster Relief Feeding team and kitchen from Kansas/Nebraska and Arkansas cooking food for the Salvation Army who have been delivering it throughout the affected areas in their Canteens. We are supporting a Red Cross shelter with a water tanker, shower unit, and laundry unit manned by a two person team from Oklahoma. Our recovery teams are doing mudout for the homeowners in which water levels were as high as the rafters in some homes. Mudout involves removing all the contents including appliances/cabinets and taking up the carpets and flooring. The sheet rock and insulation is removed from the walls. Most of the homes have a basement that has to be mudded out also. The last step involve pressure washing the inside of the house and then spraying it down with a mold remediation concentrate. It can take up to 300 man hours to complete a large home.



Our days are long and we have been stretched physically by mere exhaustion. Our faith is growing as we realize that our weakness is an opportunity for God to move and do the impossible. Our teams rotate every week or 10 days and we have met some great servants and labors of God who have blessed our lives. We have morning devotions with all the volunteers during breakfast and this keeps us focused on the real mission for the day. Our small Incident Command team of (5) meet around 7:00 pm for a debriefing along with devotion and prayer.



Our volunteers have completed 150 homes. They have prepared 127,611 meals for the Salvation Army, done 3,475 laundry loads, and 3,400 showers. Our Chaplains have done a terrific job of ministering to those without hope and encouraging the saints. Twenty five state conventions have responded and we have had 60-100 volunteers on site each week. All of this work is done in the name of Jesus by Disaster Relief Volunteers at no cost to the homeowner. This earns us the right to share the Gospel which is priceless. To date there have been 75 professions of faith for which we give God all the praise and glory.



God has called us to Minot to lead our DR teams to the finish line. Why not Minot, since we would rather be in God's will than any other place. We would ask you to pray for us, specifically that we would have spiritual wisdom and physical strength to finish the race strong and that Jesus's footprint will be evident throughout the town of Minot, ND until He comes again.

We love each of you!

Randy and Ronda Corn
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief
Incident Command Team
Minot, North Dakota