- [Narrator] Carol Blair well remembers
September 16th, 2004.
That's the day Hurricane Ivan swept through her hometown
of Robertsdale.
- Hurricane Ivan Ivan kept increasing
the more it came toward us
and ended up being a high category three.
And it devastated this area.
- [Narrator] Emerging from their home
to discover their long driveway
covered with 50 to 100 fallen trees,
Carol and her family did their best to clear a path out,
but there was still so much more to do around the property.
- You're left with trying to do the best you can,
and all of a sudden an angel comes in
with the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief team.
And they minister to everybody in such a precious fashion,
not just by cutting trees and not mudding out
and different things,
but by ministering to the soul and giving hope.
And that's tremendous.
- [Narrator] Now, fast forward, 16 years later to the day,
to September 16th, 2020,
when Hurricane Sally made landfall, again in Gulf Shores,
and then plowed through Robertsdale.
- You walked out the door,
and there was devastation everywhere.
We prayed, said, "Lord, please work out something."
Within about four hours, I heard these chainsaws,
and they were right up at the end of the road.
And our daughter got on the little four wheeler we had.
She went charging up to the (laughing) end of the road.
She came back rejoicing.
She said, "Mama, mama, the angels have arrived!
"They're here! They're here!"
And to me, that's what the disaster relief team is.
They're yellow-shirted angels that come in.
Don't fly in on wings;
they come in on trucks and cars and vans.
And yet, when they come out, they get right to work.
They're powerful, they're strong, they're courageous,
and they believe in helping others.
(soft upbeat music)
- [Narrator] After Ivan, Carol,
a long time member of First Baptist Robertsdale,
wanted to express her appreciation
to all of the disaster relief volunteers,
so she wrote a poem,
one which continues to encourage volunteers even today.
- "Have you ever wondered where angels come from?
"Well, today I was blessed to be in the midst of some.
"Many wore yellow hats and had skin so fair."
- [Narrator] One of those yellow-shirted angels
Carol wrote about
is John Hayes,
who volunteered to serve in Robertsdale in 2004
and was back in 2020.
For John, disaster relief really isn't about cutting trees
or for preparing meals.
It's about people, like Carol and others,
that God gives him the opportunity to serve.
- I have yet to have a deployment
when He didn't put somebody in my way
that I wasn't able to witness to.
And I've been on 147 state deployments so far.
And He'll make a way if you'll just make yourself available.
- [Narrator] Your gifts to the Myers-Mallory
State Missions Offering
are part of the fuel
that keeps this yellow-shirt army of angels operating.
- For people who don't understand where their money goes,
let me assure you,
in having these men and women
who volunteer their time and their effort,
the Southern Baptist Relief team is a powerful ministry
to those who are hurting, those who have no hope,
and those who are lost.
It gives them hope.
And that's what they did for us. They gave us hope.
(music continues)