Message from Dr. Mark L. Bailey

Dear Seminary Friends and Family,

As we watch the rooftops rising out of the water that has engulfed the city of New Orleans, we are reminded of images of the tsunami-ravaged regions from last December. But no longer are we viewing images of brothers and sisters thousands of miles away. We are viewing images of our neighbors.

We want to help, and we know you do too. I’d like to outline a few ways in which Dallas Seminary will aim to assist hurricane victims who have sought shelter in North Texas as well as ways for you to become involved in the relief efforts.

The City of Dallas will accommodate 25,000 new hurricane victims at Reunion Arena and a section of the Dallas Convention Center this Saturday, September 3. The Dallas Morning News reported City Manager Mary Suhm as equating the influx of hurricane victims as “a population equal to that of University Park or Farmers Branch”.

While many of us would like simply to drive to Reunion Arena or the Convention Center, pick up a stranded family, and take them home with us, we must coordinate our efforts with city officials who need our help, but also need to structure their logistical strategy. Until we hear word from those officials, please continue to pray and check this website for more information. When we learn exactly how we may proceed from city officials, we will report this information to you.

In the meantime we’d like to provide you with a list, although not exhaustive, of alumni and alumni-pastored churches from the affected states for which we ask you to pray. (Affected Alumni), (Affected Alumni-Pastored Churches)  Additionally, in the spirit of Christian love, Dallas Seminary will extend free tuition to students from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Reformed Theological Seminary, in Jackson, Mississippi, both of which have suffered destruction of large magnitude. The offer to students from these two schools is to study tuition-free at our Dallas campus for the Fall 2005 semester. We are opening our hearts and our Seminary to these students because it helps advance the mission of all of our schools, because we can do it, and because it is the right thing to do. (Further information regarding this offer.)

Finally, as in any disaster, it is natural for people to wonder where God is or why He has allowed such destruction. Whatever your station in this unfolding story—victim, relative of a victim, relief worker, observer—these questions are worthy of asking. To this end, we have provided a list of resources on grief and suffering to assist you through this time. The God we serve is worthy of the asking—and more than capable of handling the questions.

May you be comforted in this time of strain and loss. May you pray with us diligently for the lives of those who have lost much. May you hope in the God who can restore and make all things new.

In sympathy and support,
Dr. Mark L. Bailey
President

Links:
(Affected Alumni)
(Affected Alumni-Pastored Churches)
(Donate to the Hurricane Relief Fund)
(Further information regarding the NOBTS & RTS offer)