Our focus as a church is to really encourage them and point them (community residents) to Christ as the only hope. … God has put us here to come alongside you and help you.
CEDAR KEY–Debris piled high along community roads, broken and splintered fragments of homes floating in waterways, shattered windows … and shattered lives.
After Hurricane Helene roared into Cedar Key Sept. 26, leaving devastation in its wake, community residents needed encouragement. They needed hope. They needed help.
And they found all three in ample supply at First Baptist Church in Cedar Key. Because Hurricane Helene was the third hurricane to hit Cedar Key in the past 13 months, the church has established a reputation as the go-to spot for residents of this tiny island seeking help, hot meals, supplies and some much-needed hope after a hurricane.
With its 10-to-12-foot water surges destroying many homes and businesses on the island last week, Helene is considered one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit the island in the past 100 years.
That makes the relief efforts being coordinated by Pastor Billy
Dalton and his team of church members and other volunteers all the more important and meaningful.
‘Encourage people and point them to Christ’
The church has been feeding people since Friday night, thanks to ready-to-eat meals provided by other churches, Florida Baptist Disaster Relief and other relief organizations. The church fed about 600 people on Sunday, but Dalton expects that number to double or even triple this week as many residents were allowed to return to the island on Monday to assess damages to homes and businesses.
In addition to hot meals served three times a day, the church is also the distribution site for bottled water, ice, cleaning supplies, buckets and more. And Dalton has kept the public notified about mealtimes, the availability of supplies, requests for supplies, the curfew and other pertinent details from city officials via frequent videos posted to the church’s Facebook page.
“With our central location, my job has been the coordinating and organizing of these things and getting the information out there to people,” he said. “Facebook is a huge thing right now.”
First Baptist did this same operation just over a year ago after Hurricane Idalia, so after discussions with the city council prior to Helene, the church agreed to serve in the same capacity.
Because the church and parsonage are on a hill and are some 20 feet above sea level, Dalton and his family boarded up their windows and rode out the hurricane at home with no issues. After waiting for the water to recede Friday morning, they began cleaning up the church grounds, preparing it to become the huge distribution center that it was last year.
“We’re really well known in the community especially after doing this last year,” he said. “So people come and we love on them, pray with them and give them food, cold drinks or hot coffee – whatever we can do to encourage people and ultimately point them to Christ.”
Cedar Key’s First Baptist also held a service on Sunday morning but with no power, church members opened the windows and sang hymns a cappella style before Dalton preached a sermon of hope from Psalm 30. Two lay leaders and the worship leader were there, despite losing their homes in the storm.
Having endured three hurricanes in such a short time has taken its toll on people, leaving many residents feeling hopeless and discouraged, Dalton said.
“Our focus as a church is to really encourage them and point them to Christ as the only hope. With our attitude and the things that we say, we are trying to remind people that this was not a surprise to God. These things happen, and this is part of being on this earth. God has put us here to come alongside you and help you.
“We are thankful that God has allowed us to serve our community in this way. We don’t have to; we get to.”
Photos by William Haun for the Florida Baptist Convention.