Drought is no stranger to the people of God, but neither is God’s willingness to bring rain. Elijah, through faith and obedience, prayed for and believed in the miracle of God to bring rain to the dry land. Is your church willing to be the Elijah of the drought of 2007? Please join NC Baptist Men on Sunday December 30, 2007 for a day of faith and obedience as we pray and believe that God will open up the heavens and bring the rain to our dry land.

Although North Carolina was spared a hurricane disaster in 2007, the state is experiencing another kind of disaster that can have longer-term consequences than a hurricane. That disaster? DROUGHT. Over three-fourths of the state is characterized as a region of exceptional drought, the highest-risk category.

The extreme drought of 2007 has caused severe hardships especially to our farmers. It could hasten the end of many multi-generational family farms. This is not a one-year dry spell. The drought has been building for the last several years and it is predicted to continue into 2008. It has caused severe crop devastation and it has led to the depletion of livestock inventories.

Hay production has been particularly hard hit. The shortage in North Carolina could be as high as 200,000+ tons. That equates to about 450,000 large round bales. Placed end to end, that number of bales would stretch from Manteo to Asheville---a lot of hay! While some livestock can be fed damaged corn and soybean forage, there is simply not enough of these substitutes to materially reduce the need for hay.

When farmers are forced to sell off their livestock, the market is flooded and the prices they receive plummet. We all feel the impact later in the grocery stores when the inevitable meat shortages occur, causing the price of meat to soar.

► What can North Carolina Baptists do to help?

• Pray – Utilize Sunday, December 30, to pray for an end to the drought.
• Let farmers in your community know that you care about them and are praying for them.
• Consider a contribution to assist our farmers (see below).

Hay is available in the Northeast and upper Midwest, but it is difficult to get it to North Carolina due to high transportation costs. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has started a Hay Relief Fund to enable more hay to be transported into the state. Farmers can apply to the NC Department of Agriculture for help with hay transportation costs by using the websites or toll-free telephone number provided below.

We are asking North Carolina Baptists to assist farmers through the Hay Relief Fund. A large number of our Convention’s 4000 congregations are in rural areas. When farmers are hurting, their ability to add to the economy of their communities is reduced significantly and everyone is affected. Not only are we asking our churches to pray for rain on December 30, we are volunteering to be a conduit for anyone who wants to support the Department of Agriculture Hay Relief project. Since the Department of Agriculture has already established a fund to offset the expenses of transporting hay from other states to our North Carolina farmers, if a church or individual wants to support that effort, they can send their gifts to the BSCNC for the NCBM Agriculture Ministry and all funds will be forwarded to the NC Department of Agriculture.

Send donations to (payable to NCBM and noted “Hay Relief Fund”):
North Carolina Baptist Men
PO Box 1107
Cary, NC 27512

Livestock owners needing help should register at: www.ncagr.com/HayAlert/AgPartners.htm

Equine owners needing help should register at: www.ncagr.com/HayAlert/EquinePartners.htm

Farmers who are looking for hay should call our toll-free telephone number: 1-866-506-6222 between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.