A Disaster Relief training Sept. 5 at Cross Church Pinnacle Hills in Rogers brought together about 120 people to prepare for disaster response while taking steps to expand Hispanic involvement in the ministry.

The training covered multiple areas of Disaster Relief, including chainsaw operations, recovery and communications. It also brought six members of Puerto Rico Disaster Relief to provide Spanish-language instruction and interpretation.

About 25 Hispanic participants attended the training.

Randy Garrett, director of Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief, said increasing the number of Spanish-speaking volunteers will help Disaster Relief better serve Arkansas communities where language can be a barrier following a disaster.

Volunteers must communicate with property owners about the work they plan to perform and receive permission before beginning.

“We need a lot of folks to help us with interpretation,” Garrett said. “There’s a great need in that we have a very large Hispanic population.”

The effort, however, goes beyond communication during recovery.

“The whole reason we do this is to represent Jesus Christ in times of disaster,” he said. “We need Hispanic help to reach that group to tell them about Jesus. During a disaster, this may be the only time we can reach some of those communities.”

The Sept. 5 event concluded Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief’s regional training schedule for the year.

An estimated 400 people attended Disaster Relief training throughout the year, with approximately 250 new volunteers joining through regional and special training events. Arkansas has about 2,500 currently credentialed Disaster Relief volunteers.

While training equips volunteers for various areas of disaster response, Garrett said it also creates something equally valuable – relationships.

“It’s such a joy to meet new people that have a calling for disaster relief,” Garrett said. “The relationships that we form are lifetime.”

Those relationships often continue into deployments and beyond. Garrett said volunteers frequently find themselves serving alongside people they met through Disaster Relief training.

The skills learned in training prepare volunteers to meet practical needs following storms and other disasters, but Garrett said the ministry’s purpose is ultimately spiritual.

“We bring help, healing and hope in times of disasters to survivors, and we always represent Jesus Christ,” he said.

Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief is supported through Cooperative Program funding, the Dixie Jackson Arkansas Missions Offering, designated giving and individual contributions. Those gifts help provide the equipment, resources and training needed to keep Disaster Relief prepared to respond when communities are affected by disasters.

Regional training is expected to begin again in February, with the complete 2027 training schedule to be released after dates are finalized.

For more information on Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief, visit abscdisasterrelief.org.