The pace of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief work may lessen a bit for the holidays, but it rarely comes to a halt. That was the case for 500-plus collegiate volunteers who served survivors of Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey up to the week of Christmas and are continuing their work into the new year.
One of those volunteers is Reese Hammond from Northwest Missouri State University. Hammond was part of an 11-member student-led Baptist Student Union group who came to Staten Island to serve alongside trained SBDR volunteers from Alabama and other states.
"God gave us two borrowed vans to make the 22-hour trip," Hammond said in recounting his thankfulness for God's provision. "When we arrived at Zion Lutheran Church where we were staying, we were greeted by the amazing and wonderful volunteers and staff that made our trip a success.
"Over the week we worked on some of the most damaged homes you could think of," Hammond continued.
"All of these homes had extensive water damage. Some had even experienced more than 14 feet of water rushing over them. We worked on homes that were filled with mud and mold. We had homes where sewer pipes had broken and sewage was everywhere inside."
Susan Peugh, a North American Mission Board staff member responsible for coordinating volunteer opportunities, said God is using disaster relief to reveal Himself to college students.
Students have had "life-changing experiences while ripping out floors, insulation and spraying for mold," Peugh said. "Daily they are being reminded of how God has blessed them and why they need to share His hope and love with those who are hurting. They will long remember this experience."
Since Sandy made landfall, SBDR volunteers have prepared 1.8 million meals, cleaned debris from more than 1,000 homes and made 4,600-plus ministry contacts. Volunteers have shared the Gospel with more than 800 people, resulting in 88 professions of faith during 32,543 ministry service days.
Hammond said the trip to Staten Island "didn't mean that we were missing out on free time over break. It meant that if we didn't go on this trip, we would be missing out on making Christ's name great in the hearts of those who are hurting.
"Over the week, we were able to sow the seeds that God makes grow. We were able to pray with these people after each day of work. We gave out Bibles and we shared what Jesus has done in our lives."
The Missouri collegians were among students from 22 states who gave part of their Christmas breaks to serve in the New York City area. Students will continue to minister on site through Jan. 22.
"Overall, this trip was full of God's glory," Hammond said. "He made everything line up just right. He put us in the position to serve those who needed Him. He revealed Himself to us, to those we served and to New York. He even arranged a Fox News interview with our group the morning that we were going to leave. So, in the end, God was faithful as always. He was faithful in getting us there, He was faithful in revealing Himself to us and to the people we worked with, and He was most definitely faithful in making His name great throughout our entire trip."
From its disaster operations center in Alpharetta, Ga., NAMB coordinates Southern Baptist responses to major disasters through a partnership between NAMB and the Southern Baptist Convention's 42 state conventions, most of which have their own state disaster relief programs.
SBDR assets include 82,000 trained volunteers, including chaplains, and some 1,550 mobile units for feeding, chainsaw, mud-out, command, communication, childcare, shower, laundry, water purification, repair/rebuild and power generation. SBDR is one of the three largest mobilizers of trained disaster relief volunteers in the United States, along with the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army.
As a player, Mike Redmond prided himself on being more than just a student of the game. During his 13-year big league career, the former backup catcher spent plenty of time studying managers.
Redmond had the good fortune of picking up traits and tidbits from some of the best in the business. Much of what he absorbed from them will help mold him into the type of manager he hopes to become with the Marlins.
When Redmond broke in as a rookie in 1998, Jim Leyland was managing the Marlins. He also developed a close bond in South Florida with John Boles, who managed him in the Minors and Majors. And in 2003, Redmond was Ivan Rodriguez's backup on a World Series championship team, guided by Jack McKeon. When he moved to Minnesota, Redmond spent five seasons receiving pointers from Ron Gardenhire.
Those four have combined for more than 50 years of big league managerial experience.
"There are lots of guys that I learned from, but the biggest thing is that as a catcher, as a backup catcher, I sat there and I watched," Redmond said. "I sat there and paid attention. I'd watch what moves guys made, when they made them. I tried to learn."
At age 41, Redmond is the youngest manager in the big leagues, and he will be taking over a youthful and inexperienced squad. Redmond's style of managing will certainly evolve, but he has plenty of insights from his own playing days, as well as observing his former managers.
"I love the game, and I love to study the game," he said. "I always took so much pride in being a backup catcher. I wanted to be the best backup catcher.
"I knew if I wasn't going to be a starter, I wanted to be the best backup catcher in the league. And I knew the only way I was going to be able to do that was if I paid attention and watched and learned. If I did that, everything was going to be fine."
Redmond retired as a player after the 2010 season, and he immediately embarked on his managerial career. He spent two years in the Blue Jays' system, first with the Class A Lansing Lugnuts. And in '12, he moved up to the advanced Class A Dunedin Blue Jays.
Making the leap to the big leagues presents a whole different set of challenges, including dealing with a wide range of personalities, plus extra media coverage. Managing people is as much the game as mapping out strategy.
With all that Redmond is about to face, he will be relying on his own past experiences.
"I played for a lot of different guys, and sort of completely different types of managers," Redmond said. "Obviously, Jim Leyland was my first manager in 1998. I learned so much from him."
From Leyland, Redmond realized, to get the most out of your players, you have to put them in positions to succeed.
"He was a big matchup guy, and he got me into situations to be successful," Redmond said. "Had I gone out there and played against the [Greg] Madduxes and the Kerry Woods right out of the chute, I may not be sitting here today.
"He started me in against lefties, soft-throwing lefties, but it allowed me to establish myself and kind of cut my teeth in the big leagues with some confidence, and it just kind of built from there."
In Minnesota, Gardenhire showed the importance of backing his players. If it meant being tossed from the game, so be it.
"Gardy was a tremendous players' manager," Redmond said. "I don't know if there's a guy that I've played for that backed his players more than Gardy did. It's definitely something that I learned from him.
"You've seen him get thrown out of games, backing his players. But he fought for his guys, and that was one of the things I have never forgotten."
In 2003, with the Marlins making a World Series push, McKeon rode his regulars hard. Often the bench players didn't see much action.
"McKeon showed so much faith in his players," Redmond said. "If you were a [main] guy, he ran you out there. It didn't matter if you were 0-for-16, 0-for-17, 0-for-20. If you were his guy, you played.
"Maybe for the bench players at the time we didn't appreciate it, but he got me into a World Series, in Game 2, and he didn't have to do it. I think we were down five or six runs in Game 2, and he gave Pudge a little bit of blow and got me in there."
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