Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region before sweeping through Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia and Tennessee, has left over 130 people dead at our press time with hundreds still missing.
The mountainous city of Asheville, N.C., faced catastrophic flooding that killed at least 30 and left thousands without electricity, water, or cell service. Interstate 40, which connects east Tennessee to western North Carolina, remains closed after part of the road collapsed.
In the Swannanoa area of Buncombe County, SKYline News quoted law enforcement officials stating that numerous bodies have been found in the area, including some that were in trees.
The tiny town of Chimney Rock was literally swept away. It had been a popular tourist destination and was made famous in two movies- “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Dirty Dancing.”
Bridgess, roads, infrastructure have been destroyed across western North Carolina. It’s going to take years, not weeks or months, to rebuild. Residents described the scene as “apocalyptic.”
In response, Christian organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse and The Salvation Army swiftly mobilized to deliver critical disaster relief across the southeastern United States.
The mountainous communities of North Carolina have been “decimated, stated Franklin Graham, leading both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse. His organizations are offering both physical aid and spiritual support to the affected communities. The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team has deployed chaplains to the hardest-hit areas.
“Samaritan’s Purse responds to help with storms and crises around the world every day, but now the storm has hit in our own backyard,” Graham said, noting the personal connection to the storm’s impact.
“We do all this because we want people to know that they are loved, they are not forsaken, and God has not forgotten about them,” Samaritan’s Purse chief operating officer Edward Graham said. “Pray for our volunteers as they respond.”
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The Salvation Army has also been active serving up to 1,500 meals per day to those affected. Convoy of Hope is another Christian group making significant contributions.
“In times of crisis, we stand united with communities facing hardship,” Kenneth G. Hodder, national commander of The Salvation Army, said.
While national disaster relief ministries like Operation Blessing, Convoy of Hope, and Samaritan’s Purse are doing what they can, many smaller faith communities are doing their part to chip in to help meet the monumental needs. Many churches have came together to pray for those who are suffering.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Pastor James White of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC. “They’re now calling it North Carolina’s Katrina.”
“We do not know what a day may bring, but we know Who holds the day, and it’s You, Lord,” he said. “And we pray that those who are in the carnage would feel a sense of Your presence.”
“There are times the Church really has to pull together and this is one of these times,” said Kelvin Page, president of Operation Compassion. “This is a major disaster…this is overwhelming and we’ve got to have help.”
“We are trusting that You are working it for Your good, Lord God. Continue to use the Church and the people around here to make it better,” one volunteer prayed.
A member of a local church assisting residents by distributing basic supplies in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s destruction said the crisis has left the community broken but united.
“I was hearing story after story; people are broken,” Kristi Brown of First Baptist Church in Hendersonville. Brown was among about 100 volunteers and staff at the church dispensing food, water and basic hygiene products. Volunteers also ministered to their spiritual needs, and she said she offered to pray with suffering local residents and singled out several harrowing stories that “blew her away.”
“I found when I would ask people to pray about stuff, they would tell me some things to pray about: their home, a missing loved one, whatever the need,” Brown said. “But they all were saying, ‘I just don’t know what to do with this.’”
Brown said most people attempted to smile and keep up good spirits, though one woman was honest and told her she was “really struggling.”
“After I prayed with her, she just reached her arms up — I didn’t know her, never met her in my life — she said, ‘Can I hug you?’ I said absolutely. So we just hugged through the car window, and she just embraced me, would not let go and she was sobbing in her car.”
“People right now just need people to care and love them, and let them know it’s going to be OK,” she added. “That’s why we were asking people if we could pray with them today: to give them spiritual hope in the midst of all this crisis and devastation.”
Brown urged Christians to pray urgently for the restoration of the region’s critical infrastructure and for the mental well-being of residents.
It is really hard to believe right now that anything good can come out of this disaster. Yet God’s word tells us differently. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
Neighboring Asheville is a liberal city in an otherwise deep-red part of North Carolina, but Brown believes the crisis has managed to unite an otherwise divided area in a fractured nation. She noted locals could not wait on the federal or state response and had to jump into action to take care of each other.
“I’m trying to find the blessings in this storm,” she said. “This storm is bringing our community together in a way that I’ve not seen in a long time. I think nationwide, our community has been divided in this whole political season that we’re in. But now people are helping people.”
“So a blessing is, I think, the unity that’s formed because we’re all in crisis together,” she added.
Right now is the time to show the love of Christ through our actions by being the hands and feet of our Lord. There are many, many people in need and will be in need for some time. Please find a way to help with donations of your time or money. But most of all PRAY!
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35)