By Georgette Gaston*
In June 2024 Jim and I retired to the North Georgia mountains. Who knew that September would bring a hurricane! It was reported by weather experts that Hurricane Helene would arrive in the mountains as a tropical storm bringing wind shear with 80 mile-per-hour winds and 10 to 15 inches of rain. Helene had a mind of her own and turned east before getting to the Blue Ridge Mountain area. Over and over, again, people said how fortunate we were. We were fortunate. Even so, our safety came at the misfortune of thousands of people in North Carolina, Tennessee, and southern Georgia. What can we do when God moves our hearts in gratitude? We act on behalf of those experiencing what we’ve been spared from.
On December 2, eight men and two women from the North Illinois, East Ohio, West Ohio, and North Georgia Conferences of The United Methodist Church responded to the emergency response team (ERT) requests from the South Georgia Conference to do what we could. The path of Helene was more than 100 miles wide with continual lightning strikes, many tornadoes, wind and rain. Camp Tygart in Ray City, a UMC camp housed us, giving us a place to sleep and cook our meals. Rev. Steve Court from East Ohio and Rev. Chris Ramsey from South Georgia along with Ted Warnock helped coordinate needs and work sites. Our team leader was Bob Catchpole from East Ohio. Elizabeth Kinkead traveled with him from East Palestine. Ken Johnson and Karl Boshart drove from the Northern Illinois Conference. Rev. Pete Elliott, Dan Morris, Terry Tamasovich, and Rich Leonard came from West Ohio. Steve Voelkel and I participated from the North Georgia Conference.
South Georgia didn’t receive the amount of news coverage that places in the northern part of the state did, leaving the area with a lot of unmet needs. The people helped through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) ERT effort are those without insurance, those underinsured, those whose coverage doesn’t include debris removal, and those who have limited coverage for direct damage for a covered structure. Our team worked for three days at five homes in Graham City clearing, de-limbing, and cutting up trees. The owners of the homes where we assisted were either elderly or single parents. The 10 team members traveled a combined thousands of miles with compassion, commitment and equipment to help in big and small ways.
Ultimately, the Church is about building relationships and fostering community through service and mission. It’s the most important part of what United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) teams do. We didn’t get to meet every homeowner to hear their story, but we did meet Barb who lived with her sister in the home her Daddy built. Barb told us the family gathered at her house to weather the storm and shared what they did to pass time throughout the long dark night. The power was out at the house for two weeks.
We also met Vedalia, a widow whose garage access was almost completely covered by fallen trees. We briefly met Tina, a single mother whose yard had trees downed, but not cut up enough for the county to pick up. Graham City UMC opened its building for us to charge tool batteries and to use the bathrooms, and the church provided lunch. We also were treated to authentic southern lunches at Sarah’s Buffet for two days. Word traveled fast among the local patrons as they learned who we were and why we were in their town of 264 people, and we were offered many thanks for our efforts.
So, when your good fortune comes at the cost of another’s misfortune, do something! Pay attention to the Spirit of Christ. Say, “yes”, take one small step in faith and see where God leads. You won’t be disappointed!
*Georgette Gaston is a retired local pastor who served churches in the East Ohio Conference for 15 years and now lives in Georgia.
Editor’s Note: Additional teams, like the one that traveled to Georgia, are still needed for this life-changing ministry of presence! Pick a week or a long weekend and be an answer to a prayer. To learn more about how you can help, please e-mail Rev. Kathy Dickriede, EOC director of Missions & Community Engagement, or e-mail Rev. Dr. Tammy Kuntz, North Central Jurisdiction UMVIM coordinator.
East Ohio News 