The Importance of Community

August 13, 2022

View Baptist church- haven for fire victims during the Mesquite Heat Fire

“It’s just the right thing to do………”

I recently had the privilege to chat with the pastor of View Baptist Church, Brother Burtis. He explained his thoughts about the recent efforts and community contributions to rebuild. His church members have made significant contributions in the disaster recovery of the View community following the Mesquite Heat fire of May 2022, and the tragedy has brought a renewed sense of community connection.

Brother Burtis explained, “If any good has come out of this tragedy, it has been that the community as a whole has come together. We were fortunate to be positioned where we were. We were thankful to be a center point to help the people.” A key focus of the recovery has stemmed from the center point of the community, the View Baptist Church. The View Baptist Church was a haven for fire survivors after evacuations and the following days, and the church has continued to grow teams in the community to serve neighbors, spiritually as well as physically.

Brother Burtis, the pastor at View Baptist church, volunteers to help clean up the Hidden Valley neighborhood.

Brother Burtis has been a pastor of 60 years (as of July 2022). He has retired several times and was actually serving as an Interim pastor at the time of the fire. He revealed that he has been an Interim pastor at View Baptist Church for approximately 20 months. Prior to that time, he had retired from First Baptist Church of Tuscola. Honestly, it does not sound like Brother Burtis has ever fully retired as he humbly described retirement from First Baptist Church of Tuscola, as a horizontal move, where he volunteered with the Baptist Men’s Group. Part of those duties included running Disaster Relief support for Hurricane Katrina. With his disaster relief experience, it sounds like God strategically aligned him at the helm of the church just in time for fire recovery.

When the fire victims arrived at the church, following evacuations, the church mobilized to provide food (3 meals a day), internet service, and a cool place to rest. Burtis added, “All of a sudden, we had the opportunity to meet our neighbors that we had not known before. We had lost track of how to love one another.” Interestingly, in such a rural community, it was not common for neighbors living a couple miles away to not know a next-door neighbor. Such circumstances were even heightened more during COVID, when isolation was encouraged. Burtis eloquently summarized, “A lot of gates came down, both literally and figuratively.”

The View Baptist Church has since organized the “View Community Service Team,” comprised of 5 groups to serve the community. Many of the Group leaders are fire victims from Hidden Valley. The groups are: First Responders, Communication and Networking, Fundraising and Special Events, Logistics and Outreach, and the Spiritual Team.

Recovery team efforts in Hidden Valley. A group of church members, friends, and neighbors. Photo courtesy of P. Merritt.

Recently, Kay Richards organized the “Recovery team,” and they worked together to cut down the burned tress in Hidden Valley. Included in the chainsaw team was the View Baptist Pastor, Brother Burtis.

Barbara Pinkston assists with fire recovery in Hidden Valley. Photo courtesy of P. Merritt.

Burtis paraphrased, “When Jesus was asked to summarize the Bible, he said it comes down to two things, love the Lord with your whole heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12: 29-31.

For our history buffs, View Baptist was established in 1910, making it a 112-year-old church. Trees surrounding the original sanctuary served as the hitching posts for horses. Also, World War II brought in an influx of congregants, serving at Camp Barkeley, east of View.

Additional ministries graciously contributed to care and disaster relief efforts of the Mesquite Heat Fire. They include but are not limited to: The Baptist Men’s Group, Beltway Baptist Church, and Boots on the Ground. We will delve more into their efforts and teams in future posts.

Once again, thank you for following our ongoing recovery efforts of this resilient community.

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Be Blessed,

Dr. K

Dr. Kristi Kincheloe, DMSc, MPAS, MS, PA-C, CAQ- Psych is an experienced and passionate Doctoral level PA. She has practiced as a Physician Associate in Psychiatry for nearly 10 years. She also has urgent care experience. Prior to that, she practiced as a school psychologist. Her niche is helping children and adolescents. She is a wife, mother, professor, author, and avid gardener. She is also a peacemaker and nurturer, known as the "Sweetheart of the Enneagrams. (Enneagram 9, w 1).