Churches, Convoy Providing Help and Hope to Hurricane Helene Victims
“Ma’am, can I pray with you?” it was a simple question John Watford asked of the single mother, but it was the one she needed to hear. Emotion broke across the woman’s face as she threw her arms around Watford’s neck, buried her face in his shirt, and began to weep uncontrollably as Watford began to pray.
Watford, who is 71, is the longtime Disaster Relief coordinator for the North Carolina Assemblies of God. He recently returned home after spending a week in the hills and hollers of the Spruce Pine region of western North Carolina, where people are still missing and bodies are continuing to be found in water ways or buried in mud due to the deluge and resulting mud slides brought on by the remnants of Hurricane Helene. In many places, he says, power, cell and internet service, and running water are still days, if not weeks — or longer — from being restored.
Watford, who was distributing relief supplies at the time, says that the encounter he had with the single mother and her 12-year-old son is something he’s experienced repeatedly. People — spent physically, emotionally, and mentally from the trauma they’ve endured — are not only in need of tangible help but need to feel the loving compassion of people and the hope only God can provide in times when there seems to be no hope.
And when it comes to the tangible, Watford says AG churches and districts/networks from Florida to New York have been contacting him asking what is needed and how to help.
“People have been absolutely phenomenal,” Watford says. “Churches, pastors — some of the most generous, loving, willing people . . . I had paramedics approach me, saying they needed more over-the-counter medicines, ointments, alcohol for small wounds. I called two churches and the next day we had a 20-foot cargo van here loaded down with supplies.”
However, communication and access remain challenging. Watford says he watched workers pour 50 dump trucks of gravel into a large breach in a road so vehicles could gain access to the mountain region, only to have a mudslide take out that portion of the road again only two hours later. His cell phone service is also extremely limited to spotty connections on mountain tops or being within five feet of a Starlink connection.
Watford says that in about three weeks, after insurance companies and the government have made their evaluations and inspections, work teams will be needed to work on houses, parsonages, and churches. He adds that most people and churches in the region don’t have flood insurance and mudslides are considered “flooding.”
“If it wasn’t for the churches (not just AG), Convoy of Hope, and other religious relief organizations, 99% of what has been done would not have been done,” says Watford.
According North Carolina Assemblies of God Superintendent David Crabtree, all AG ministers in North Carolina have been accounted for, however, the extent of damage to some churches in the hardest hit areas has yet to be fully confirmed.
“So far, we know that FAM Church in Morganton, Central Assembly in Boone, along with Crossroads Church and Harvest Time church in Asheville have experienced significant damage,” Crabree states. “We have been in contact with all of our pastors, so there are no fatalities among our ministers, but everything is still uncertain (as far as potential additional church damages).”
Crabtree also notes that AG churches in the North Carolina Assemblies of God have been doing amazing work, despite having no power and struggles of their own. After mentioning several AG churches that have been helping to provide aid to their communities in almost non-stop fashion, Crabtree pauses.
“AG churches out here are heroes,” he says matter-of-factly. “They (churches) put out the call, they loaded any trailer they could find full or equipment, generators, chainsaws, and saddled up like a posse and headed for the mountains — at least 25 teams headed out the first few days and more are getting ready to go . . . I have never been prouder to be an AG pastor than I am right now as I’ve watched these people serve one another.”
Convoy of Hope, the Assemblies of God compassion arm, has delivered more than 100 semis full of relief supplies to the Southeast, mostly to Florida and North Carolina, though trucks have also made deliveries to Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Virginia.
“So far we’ve delivered more than 1.1 million pounds of relief and more is on the way,” says Ethan Forhetz, national spokesperson for the Convoy of Hope. “We have nine truckloads of relief scheduled to be delivered today to Morganton, North Carolina.”
Forhetz says that in addition to the relief efforts going on now, another assessment team is already in place in Orlando, Florida, as Milton, currently a Category 4 hurricane, is approaching the Sunshine State.
“I’ll be going to Florida to join the team in Orlando and then move out immediately following the storm to assess needs,” Forhetz says. “However, the storm is erratic at this point, so we’re not exactly sure where ground zero for Milton will be, but wherever it hits, a warehouse will be secured, and we will ship in truckloads of supply there as a base for operations.”
For information on assisting those affected by Hurricane Helene, please visit AG Disaster Relief.