Coast church puts faith in action to help Florence victims

GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) - As Hurricane Florence continues to wreak havoc in the Carolinas, people on the Gulf Coast have no problem answering the call to help those in need.

The devastation of Hurricane Florence is an all-too familiar scene for members of First Baptist Church Gulfport.

“It wasn’t that many years ago, was it 13 years ago, that Katrina came and devastated the Coastal region," said Pastor Jimmy Stewart during Sunday’s service.

Katrina left the church’s original location a pile of rubble. First Baptist has since relocated, rebuilt and is now ready to help those who helped them during Katrina.

“The North Carolina men came, they were the first to get here after the storm and the last to leave. They helped to rebuild over 700 houses here on the Gulf Coast," said Stewart.

Members of the church will deploy to the Carolinas as part of the Mississippi Baptist Convention disaster relief team providing food, childcare, and other resources. Efforts to raise money for Florence victims are already underway.

When the church relocated, it sold its property to the city. From that money, leaders set aside $100,000 as a seed offering to be used for disaster relief.

“Every dollar people that give, we match it with another dollar from the sale of our downtown property so we’ll be able to send twice as much as we’d normally be able to send," said Stewart.

Stewart said the church is simply doing what they feel they are called to do.

“When we do good works it glorifies our Father in Heaven. It’s a good thing for us to help them. They have a great need. Its right now in the moment. We see the need, we’re aware of the need, we’ve experienced that kind of need. We want to reach out and help them like they’ve helped us," he said.

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