FBC pastor to lead group of volunteers to Georgia to help with disaster relief

Last week, the city of Newnan, Georgia, southwest of Atlanta, suffered severe damage from an EF-5 tornado.

In an effort to aid the disaster, Starkville First Baptist Church Senior Pastor Andy Brown will be taking a group of volunteers to Newnan on April 15 to help with the cleanup efforts.

Brown said this trip will be a unique opportunity for himself for a specific reason.

“Newnan is my hometown. It’s where I was born, it’s where I was raised, and it was my home prior to moving to Starkville,” said Brown. “Newnan has a very special place in my heart, and my family has been there for generations.”

Brown said he hopes this opportunity will help build relationships in Christ between the people of Starkville and Newnan.

“It’s important for us to make that bridge because we are the body of Christ united, even though I left the fellowship there and went to another fellowship, it’s still a single solitary message that I proclaim,” said Brown. “What a better way for this church to mesh with their new pastor, go to his old

stomping grounds and engage on a little of these efforts. I hope that it builds some early camaraderie between myself and the church, and as well show Georgia the heart and hospitality of Mississippi.”

For Brown, seeing his hometown suffer the damage it has suffered puts a weight on his heart, and he is very much motivated to help the city that he holds dear.

“It’s been very personal and emotional for me. My dad, who is a Vietnam veteran, described as a ‘warzone’ and that it looked like

someone dropped a bomb on the city. This is only the 10th time since 1950 that an EF-5 tornado has hit Georgia. So, it’s been really emotional for me seeing the images on television or in a newspaper and seeing a house that has been demolished and realizing that it was my cousin’s house or my friend’s house,” said Brown. “So, not living through a tornado and having a tornado touch this close, it’s very personal for me. There was one life that was lost relating to the storm; a gentleman had a heart attack right as the storm was hitting and the EMTS were not able to get there in time. We grieve for the one life that was lost, but Newnan has about 35,000 people and we’re thankful

that is was not as worse as it could have been.”

Brown also said he and his church have their thoughts and prayers with those who have been affected by last week’s storms.

“I know that there’s been some places in Mississippi and Alabama that have been affected and our hearts are just with them. We’ll be glad when tornado season is through and when spring and summer come,” Brown said.

Brown and his group of volunteers will leave for Newnan at 6 a.m. on April 15, spend the next two nights at the First Baptist Church Newnan Warehouse, and then arrive back in Starkville on April 17 around 7 p.m.