Come to the Table and Bring Your Hard Hat!

We have just finished a sermon series called “Come to the Table.” We heard about how we each bring our gifts to share and in this sharing, beautiful community can happen. People, relationships and conditions can transform when we share what we have with each other.

Recently, Bill Price shared his gifts and talents in Beauford, North Carolina as a part of the Early Response Team (ERT) from the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Conference of the United Methodist Church after Hurricane Florence hit. The mission of the Early Response Team is to provide a caring and Christian presence in the aftermath of a disaster. All volunteer ERT Teams are made up of seven individuals who are specifically trained to be present in the early days and weeks after the original disaster.  The Teams are not first response groups of emergency workers. The work is to provide a safe, secure and sanitary place, and thus preventing further damage from occurring.

 

The primary problem from Hurricane Florence was the thirty inches (30) of rain they received over a six hour period, The lower coastal regions, with lower elevation to the sea, water had no place to go. Homes in these coastal regions were flooded and residents had to move to higher ground for almost a week before returning to assess the damage.

Bill’s team gathered in Raleigh, North Carolina, and then traveled some seventy-five miles east to Beauford. “Ann Street UMC was our host, and they not only provided us with a warm and dry place to put our sleeping bags, they had been (helping) victims since the storm.” Bill’s team was one of three teams from the PNW that responded.

“Our first home needed carpet removed, insulation removed from the crawl space, and general cleanup. Our second home needed a roof re-tarped, trees and bush piled for removal, and lots of siding repairs, until the contractors can start the rebuild and repair process. Our third home had storm damage from large pine trees falling and damaging their roof, so with all the rain, we had to remove all the sheetrock, flooring, ceilings and insulation. We were busy every day and glad to have an UMCOR shower trailer to use each night!” UMCOR is the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the humanitarian branch of the United Methodist Church.

Bill grew up in the United Methodist Church, and since he was four years old, he has lived a life knowing that he will serve others. On this team, he used his organizational and leadership skills as the equipment manager, assigning and inventorying the equipment needed for each day’s work. Beauford is a city full of churches, so many of the victims have a lot of experience with church. However, after a disaster, the care that the victims felt from the volunteers was cherished deeply. Bill said that working with the families meant a 1:1 relationship that was more meaningful than he expected. He was prepared for the work, he said, but hadn’t realized how emotional the experience would be. Sitting with the homeowners during and after the long days of work, listening to their stories of survival and waiting for their crying to stop, showed Bill the value of our connections to one another. His faith in God helped in the difficult work, including confronting large spiders in damp crawl spaces!

ERTs have been in the fire ravaged Pateros and Chelan areas, Oso fire areas, and flood ravaged area of Omak in the past two years. Bill wants you to know that “Something tells me there will be a continued need for our services. I will personally be available for any questions you may have, or welcome anyone who would like to attend the next ERT training.” When asked if he plans on continuing in this transformative work, Bill’s answer: “Without question!”