Peace in the Storm
On September 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall on the coast of Florida, causing destruction in its wake as it made its way through the Southeast part of the U.S. As the days unfolded, photos and videos circulated, showing unimaginable damage. The flooding in Western North Carolina swept away homes, flattened whole towns, and left families stranded without resources and clean water. So many communities needed aid. It was difficult to know how to help. Where could one person make a difference with destruction of such magnitude?
And yet, being the hands and feet of Jesus can be as simple as a “yes” and offering the gifts you’ve been given. In the following paragraphs, you’ll find stories of ordinary people from the Well whose hearts were moved to do something. They said “yes” to an opportunity to bring hope in the midst of a hopeless situation. I hope you find these stories encouraging, and that you remember there’s no gift greater than community and being present in times of need.
“After a phone call with family in North Carolina where they said they’re running out of food to eat, I knew I had to act and do something. I started praying and within a few hours people had given two thousand dollars worth of food and supplies to take to North Carolina. I was in absolute awe at the generosity of our community. I arrived in North Carolina around 1 a.m. Saturday morning. By 9 a.m. that day, we started making food for two hundred people who had no food and were living in low income housing. There were close to eighty kids in the development. That afternoon, we took a walk around the neighborhood to deliver food to the elderly people who couldn’t get out to get food. They were so blessed by it, and so many tears were shed.
I left Monday morning to head back to Ohio. There was still one hundred pounds of meat in the freezer at my aunt’s house to be used. I knew that God had something special in store for someone who needed that meat. We just hadn’t found them yet.
Tuesday, I received a call from my aunt who was talking through tears of excitement. Someone had stopped at their house, distraught because they had run out of food to feed the first responders who were working in the area. Little did they know that the answer was right there in the freezer! They boxed up the meat and were able to make hundreds of hamburgers for those who were working around the clock to get the electricity back on. What a divine moment from the Lord! He is our provider! There are many other testimonies from my second weekend in North Carolina, but these were some of the most precious moments that will always be with me. Let’s continue to pray for these families as homes are still in the process of being restored.”
- Mary Beth Yoder
Moved with compassion by the devastation they saw after Hurricane Helene, Ruby Chupp decided to take her food truck to North Carolina. With connections to Plain Compassion Crisis Relief, she and her family joined up with a team from Missouri. Loaded with one thousand pounds of chicken, a ton of supplies, eight thousand cookies, and her food truck, they made the trip from Ohio to Asheville, North Carolina. Their goal: feed the hungry and share the love of Jesus. They served 2,858 chipotle bowls in three days!
On one of the days, a few members of the team were able to visit Swannanoa, a town closer to the river. They met a sweet couple there that lived close to the river; they were able to talk with them for about thirty minutes.
“We asked them what time the flood came and how they got out. Around 1:30 a.m., their geese started making so much noise, they woke up the lady. She woke her husband up, and he went outside to see what was wrong. He saw the water was getting very high, so they left their house with their two children. Plus, he woke up the whole neighborhood by honking his car horn. The miraculous thing was that later they found out that people up river were somehow awoken by his horn and had time to escape as well. They are grateful to be okay, but very sad to have lost all their geese and other animals.”
While serving food, Ruby experienced a sweet moment with a hispanic lady who was in line for something to eat. The woman knew very little English, but kept repeating and motioning, “took my son.” Ruby gathered that she had lost her son in the storm. In that moment, Ruby felt great compassion for her. She saw that the woman was so overcome with gratitude for the hot food, despite her immense loss. “It was like, in that moment I understood a mother’s pain, and the woman understood that we were trying to love others through food. It was really special and impactful. Love doesn’t always need to be spoken in the same language. Love is communicated through action. “
During a busy moment, the crew’s tip jar was stolen. Ruby had just purchased two hundred dollars in supplies the day before, and the tips were to help off-set that amount. When she found out, she simply said, “I’m sure it will all wash out.” Toward the end of the week, the pastor of a local church came by, expressing his thanks for everything they’d done. “I heard your tip jar was stolen.” He handed her a stack of twenty dollar bills, despite Ruby’s refusal. He said they had been so blessed by peoples’ generosity, that he wanted to bless them. The stack of money was exactly two hundred dollars. God cares about every detail!
Ruby and her daughter Naomi recounted a few more stories of how they were touched by the people and community in North Carolina. They went to help, and yet they were also the ones who were deeply impacted by those with whom they came in contact.
In response to the severe forecast for hurricane Milton, our joint-ministry team departed for Florida in preparation for rescue operations. Grateful that the storm was not as disastrous as predicted, however slightly disappointed at the lack of opportunity to practice our training, our joint-team began serving the community with tree-removal. One household in particular would never be the same again.
When a team member knocked on Laura’s* door offering free labor, she was skeptical and asked him to sign a no-charge agreement for removing her trees. After our crew skillfully removed the massive oak tree from her home, Laura’s heart began to soften. We planned on having a few team members return the next day to finish the work.
At the dinner table that evening, I was strongly considering taking a friend's invitation to visit him in another town the next day. My teammates asked me to reconsider and I took the matter to prayer. As I prayed in the spirit, my desires began shifting. Then, I heard the Lord’s authoritative inner witness saying, “Return to that home tomorrow and share Jesus with them!”
The next day, Laura offered to pay for the tree removal, however I reiterated the gesture was a free gift and she began to cry being deeply moved by the love of God. To my surprise, after I presented the gospel, she was eager to trust the Lord for her salvation and prayed to receive Jesus!
I’m continually humbled at how easy it is to miss opportunities to love others. I nearly missed being a part of an eternal decision for Jesus because another opportunity came across my path. As I walk with the Lord, I’m jolted to the reality that the lost’s physical and spiritual rescue lies in our hands. Will we obey His still small voice, or will we choose our own way?
In the face of such life and death consequences, my only hope is to get so close to Jesus that I can’t stand the thought of disobeying Him. As our intimacy grows with Him, His life and healing will flow through us in compassion and the battle against our flesh’s rebellion will dwindle.
What value do you place on His still small voice? Are you willing to take a risk and obey?
-#007
*Name was changed
