From the Valley to the Mountains

Rain and more rain soaked the hilly region of southeastern United States.  Children had to play indoors, and mothers delayed hanging clean laundry outside to dry.  Then, on September 27, 2024 Hurricane Helene knocked down trees, widened creeks into rushing rivers, and caused those rivers, suddenly angry and greedy, to leap their banks and gobble up houses, cars, and hundreds of human lives.  Hundreds more were isolated as roads disappeared and electricity failed. 

As the news trickled out of the Appalachian area, the rest of the country was shocked and saddened.  Many people saw that God was waking up Christians and others, near and far from the Tennessee/North Carolina border.  Trucks started shipping emergency supplies to ministries or organizations serving those who had lost everything.  Many folks decided to take supplies to the victims or prepare food for the volunteers rebuilding roads or searching for the missing.  Recalling that the Rio Grande Valley had collected items after Hurricane Mitch, I knew we could do the same for our neighbors to the north, so I began asking, “Who in the valley is doing something?”  No one.

While praying and looking for a warehouse, a semitruck, a CDL driver, and necessary items, I received 30 grey, knitted beanies, and 18 pairs of work gloves from Johnny’s True Value in Harlingen, Texas. Only problem:  those items couldn’t wait for the truck to be filled; they were needed right away because of the Arctic blast headed for flood victims, many of whom were in cars or unheated campers or tents.

I drove to the FedEx building at the local airport, parked, and called a Christian volunteer in the target area.  She gave me the name of a trusted ministry working with survivors in western North Carolina.  I wrote down their address, took it and the box of gloves and beanies into FedEx, and spoke with the manager, Rolando Selvera.  I shared the dire need:  he said, “I’ll take care of it.”  When the package was weighed, the manager declared softly, “It will arrive around 5 p.m. tomorrow.” 

God can move mountains to deliver supplies and love to folks living in those mountains.

“Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.” Song of Solomon 8:7a

Carol Schwarz

Harlingen, Texas