When the rain stopped and the winds calmed outside their North Carolina mountain home, Pastor Trevor Allen and his family crawled out from under the kitchen table to join stunned neighbors in a landscape utterly changed by Hurricane Helene.

Ellison Branch, a tiny mountain stream that ran alongside the dirt access road to the Bear Trail community, had turned into a rushing torrent, churning through the mountain as it forced a new path. Roads were washed away, replaced by eight-foot gullies. 

The destruction was enormous. But so was the opportunity.

“I don’t want to waste this opportunity where neighbors can see the hands and feet of Jesus,” Allen said. “The gospel comes in word and deed.” 

He has seen cynical social media posts dismissing the nation’s thoughts and prayers and asking for shovels and backhoes instead. But Allen sees the connection between prayers and supplies. 

“We’re saying, ‘We’ve been praying for shovels and backhoes, and here they are, provided by the Jesus we prayed to.’”

Allen is the pastor of Fairview Christian Fellowship, a PCA church near Asheville. In the immediate aftermath of the September 27 hurricane, the church provided meals and shelter to its neighbors. Now, the church is working with Brock Mountain Land Company to restore access to Bear Trail and repair the damaged culverts, foundations, and driveways of the individual homes.

The private dirt road running up the mountain serves a community of about 50 families in an assortment of RVs, trailers, yurts, and houses. The repair cost is estimated to reach $1.2 million, Allen said, just for equipment and supplies. Fairview Christian Fellowship wants to raise enough money to foot the bill.

“If we combined all our money for a couple generations we still couldn’t pay (for repairs),” Allen said. “This is a ministry that our church has taken on to help support the residents.”

Meanwhile, Allen said Brock Mountain Land Company is already at work, filling in the gullies and restoring access to the top of the mountain. 

And restoring Bear Trail is just the beginning. Allen hopes the Lord opens doors so that once the Bear Trail neighborhood is restored, the church can begin work on the next community.  

“We’re praying for more contractors that have like minds that can go rebuild houses or bring beauty back,” he said.

All funds donated to the Bear Trail Project will go into a designated restoration account, overseen by the church treasurer and elders. They also plan to contract with an accounting firm for more rigid transparency.

But the restoration effort is really a vehicle to the primary goal.

“The hope of this project is not just the restoration of roads; it’s the salvation of souls,” he said. “I’ve got no problem waiting for FEMA [funds], but I don’t want to waste this opportunity.”

Allen told of one neighbor who said she prayed to any god who would answer during the hurricane. But at a neighborhood meeting, after he asked if could share a “poem of Jesus’,” everyone listened to the Beatitudes and later asked for more.  

“There was a moment of silence and shock and reflection about receiving mercy and compassion and comfort. They were processing the words of Jesus on a dusty road with destruction all around them,” he said. “That’s what’s getting me excited.”

MNA Disaster Response Raises Relief Funds

Less than half an hour away, based at Arden Presbyterian Church, Steve Jessen said he’s motivated by that same goal. 

“Our primary focus of course is that we want to bring the gospel to folks through word and deed, and so our service opens the doors to build relationships with folks and share the love of Christ with them,” he said. 

A coordinator for Mission to North America’s Disaster Response team, Jessen has been working since the first days after the storm to coordinate teams of volunteers from across the country.

Jessen said a lot of the work has been debris removal: cutting up fallen trees; clearing yards; ripping out waterlogged sheetrock or insulation; putting things back together again. The teams work through the local church, using their connections to go out into the community.

“Generally we like to keep that connection to the local church, so we can point people back to a local body that will be there when we’re gone,” he said. “We’re an extension of their ministry.”

And to support that effort MNA is running a Thanksgiving Offering drive to benefit the disaster response team.

Sherry Lanier, Disaster Response facilitator, said they will use the donations to purchase heavy equipment, generators, housing and shower trailers, and countless other supplies. 

“As the Lord provides the funds, we’re able to add to our fleet that we use for responses,” she said. 

Jessen said he’s already been encouraged by the church’s response to the hurricanes. “There’s been such an outpouring of love and support,” he said. 

“(Pray) that God would continue to orchestrate this ministry,” he said. “We just want to be used by God in whatever way that He wants us. There’s lots of needs. We can’t meet all the needs, but He has in mind who we’re supposed to help and when they need help.”

To learn more or donate, visit beartrailproject.org; or visit give.pcamna.org/to/mna-thanksgiving-offering/.

Heather Roth is a news writer for byFaith.