PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Like many churches in the path of Hurricane Milton, Tri-City Baptist Church in Punta Gorda was hit hard. On Friday, Oct. 11, the morning after the storm, volunteers from the church began dry-out efforts from storm flooding. By Sunday, they were feeling tired and weary.

Not too far down the road, in the parking lot of Murdock Baptist Church in Port Charlotte, church volunteers were clearing storm debris to make way for an incoming Texas Baptist Disaster Relief team. James Grimmer, a neighbor of Murdock Baptist Church who owns a local landscaping company, joined the clean-up efforts and shared that his childhood church, Tri-City Baptist, was flooded and needed help.

A small team of young people, led by Bryan Skupin, Murdock’s director of family life, set out to help. Joining Grimmer and Juan Colon, a local missionary, they had a strong mix of manpower and heavy equipment to make a difficult task more manageable.

Through their efforts, five trailers totaling about 25,000 pounds of debris were taken to the landfill. The next gen team, consisting of three teens and three adults, sorted through debris, carefully packed books, electronics and other salvageable items into containers and moved them to an upstairs area that was free of storm damage. They also spent some time cleaning up with a wet/dry vacuum, leaving Tri-City Baptist Church ready to begin a mold remediation treatment the following day.

The help at Tri-City Baptist Church came at a time when it was needed most. Following Hurricane Ian, a Category 5 storm in 2022, Tri-City Baptist Church sprang to action to help its community for several months, and then began the two-year process of rebuilding its own church facility, which had only been completed a week before Hurricane Milton made landfall.

“Two years ago, our church and my personal home were all but destroyed. Hurricane Milton undid two years of labor to rebuild. Our church and my family felt too tired to go back into ‘action mode,’” said Jay Sheppard, pastor of Tri-City Baptist Church. “When Murdock Baptist Church came and put a full day’s labor into our facility, shoulders were a little straighter and my chin was a little higher, not to mention my spirit. I cannot say ‘thank you’ enough to those who showed up in our hour of need.”

Gordon Caldwell, missions director for Murdock Baptist Church, has provided training for the church’s next gen members in sharing their testimonies and the gospel. The youth put this training into action as they filled and distributed sandbags prior to the storm and bags of ice after the storm. The day of service at Tri-City Baptist Church began with prayer and led to many faith-building conversations. 

Over the past two years, the group of teens has had several opportunities to pray with neighbors and share the gospel. Following Hurricane Ian in 2022, they engaged in cleanup, hot meal distribution, clothing distribution and assisting church members and neighbors with cleaning and clearing debris from yards and homes — putting their faith into action.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — This story originally appeared at flbaptist.org.)