Infectious joy amid disaster relief
A Missouri Baptist DR intern and MBU student shares her story
This is another in a series of features on Missouri Baptist ministries supported for a century through the Cooperative Program giving of MBC-affiliated churches.
By Shelly Ryan
Missouri Baptist University student
As a student at Missouri Baptist University and a volunteer with Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief (MODR), I’ve had the privilege of seeing Cooperative Program funds at work.
I don’t come from a Baptist background, so upon joining MODR’s collegiate team in 2023 I had no idea of the scale and organization of disaster-relief efforts undertaken by cooperating Missouri Baptist churches. I was amazed at their heart for serving others.
Having the opportunity to serve on the collegiate team has been a tremendous blessing, and I hope my story sheds light on just some of the ways the Lord has used the time, efforts, and donations of his servants.
For the past two summers, I’ve participated in MODR’s college internship. Beginning as something I had never even heard of, MODR has now become a part of my identity and a major contributor to my decision to work in disaster relief after college.
My iPhone GPS still recognizes the location of the MODR Readiness Center outside Jefferson City as “home.” I’ve met some of my closest friends, shared some of my most joyous memories, and celebrated two of my birthdays in the presence of MODR volunteers.
Disaster Relief can be an exhausting ministry, but it leaves behind a unique impact on its recipients as it can be quite personal.
Volunteers are invited into survivors’ homes, or what remains of them, and sometimes our work must make things look worse before it can get better. In these situations, it involves a lot of trust on the part of the homeowner.
In my limited experience, the joy of a disaster relief worker with a half-plan and a hammer is infectious. No matter how dire the situation is, even if we’re pulling documents from rubble, having someone meet you where you are works wonders.
I sometimes wondered if it was insensitive being so happy around people who had lost so much due to natural disaster. I would come to the job site smiling as I worked with my friends, doing what I loved to do.
On the contrary, I have found the inherent fun-loving and positive nature of the collegiate team as our greatest tool.
Two summers ago, we were in the St. Louis area repairing homes with flood damage incurred in 2022 and were hard at work installing drywall and molding in an older woman’s basement.
As a thank you, the woman invited us outside to a BBQ, and there she asked us who she had heard whistling all morning.
After someone owned up, she then asked who had been singing. She told us that while she had been upstairs in the kitchen, she heard the noise of construction accompanied by the sound of laughter and music-making.
She thanked us and said it made her feel happy to know there were people who were not only serving her, but doing so joyfully.
That basement had a sad story. Her oldest son, who had been very sick, had lived there. Shortly after his death, this room was ruined by flooding.
The memories were so powerful for this woman that she had begun taking her laundry to a laundromat instead of using her washer and dryer located in the basement.
For her, our joy was far from insensitive; it had transformed that part of her house into a space she could use and enjoy again.
Despite those heavy memories that I’m sure surfaced when she came down the stairs to see our work, she didn’t appear sad during our time with her. Instead, she cooked for us, showed us the art she collected, and talked about her family.
I’m thankful that the homeowner trusted us to work on her home and that she had the courage to tell us her story.
This is one of many memories from my time with MODR, and I know this ministry continues to make a difference in people’s lives, transforming ruined homes and repairing sad stories. All of this is possible through faithful Christians committed to gospel ministry and to giving to the Cooperative Program.
Shelly Ryan is a senior at Missouri Baptist University, pursuing a degree in communications.
