1 John 3:18 — “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

For many Southern Baptists, the line between Send Relief and Disaster Relief can feel blurry. While the two ministries often work hand-in-hand, they play distinct roles in how Southern Baptists show up for hurting people in moments of crisis.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) is there to provide hands-on help, hope, and healing to those impacted by disaster. SBDR is made up of volunteers from churches like yours who get trained to cook meals, clear debris in hazardous situations, provide much-needed chaplaincy, and help rebuild when disasters turn lives upside down. These Gold-shirted heroes are credentialed by state conventions (like CSBC) and serve as some of North America’s most visible and effective ministers of compassion.

Send Relief, on the other hand, is a national partnership between the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board, focusing on issues, both globally and locally, such as fighting human trafficking, caring for refugees, advocating for children and families, equipping communities in need, and responding to crisis. Send Relief partners with California Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (CSBDR) and other SBDR teams across the country to encourage national prayer, represent SBDR on a national level, oversee disaster response warehouses, and cultivate valuable international collaborations.  All of this helps Disaster Relief teams respond quickly and effectively whenever help is needed.

Together, they form one of the clearest pictures of cooperative missions at work.

When a wildfire roars through the California foothills or a flood hits a rural valley town, these trained CSBDR volunteers—many of them retirees, church staff, or lay leaders—serve sacrificially, modeling the love of Christ. They sleep on cots, work long hours in the heat, and offer the tangible love of Jesus to total strangers in their darkest moments.

They do it because the Gospel compels them not just to speak, but to act.

And alongside or in the background, Send Relief partners with CSBDR in their disaster response.

Through coordinated supply shipments, large-scale disaster response strategies, and international partnerships, Send Relief enhances SBDR’s outreach. A recent example is CSBDR’s involvement in the LA Fires response. When CSBDR was mobilized to assist with relief efforts for the CA Fires, Send Relief was able to supply additional Personal Protective Equipment from their warehouses immediately. They also provided financial support to purchase food for meals prepared by CSBDR for local shelters. This wonderful partnership allowed CSBDR to reach and serve more people, sharing the Gospel more efficiently and effectively with the community.

This ministry model of meeting urgent needs while sharing eternal hope follows the pattern Jesus modeled in scripture. Pat Melancon, Send Relief’s Managing Director of Training and Response, conducted a study of the Gospels and found that Jesus met needs and shared truth together more often than not:

• A need met without the truth presented – 5 times
• Truth presented without a need met – 58 times
• A combination of truth shared, and needs met – 99 times

Disaster Relief volunteers carry the same dual burden, shouldering physical help in tandem with spiritual hope.

California Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and Send Relief stand among the strongest examples of what cooperative Southern Baptist missions can accomplish. Every meal, every mobile shower unit, every roofing repair is made possible because California’s Southern Baptists give through the Cooperative Program, the California Mission Offering, and directly to specific disaster responses in the state, across the nation, and throughout the world.

On Send Relief Sunday, we invite churches to celebrate this partnership, not as an abstract brand, but as a real expression of Southern Baptists coming together to love with action and truth.

Because when disasters strike, Southern Baptists don’t run from the chaos.
We run toward it…together.