Hurricane Helene Update

Many of you have asked about how EE is doing in light of the fact that our headquarters is located in Asheville, NC. Allow me to give you a quick update on what has happened since Hurricane Helene devastated our area exactly three weeks ago:

DAMAGE FROM HURRICANE HELENE

I watched Hurricane Helene develop while I was in Korea for Lausanne 4. There was a strange finger of rain that started several days before Helene even hit land and soaked Asheville and the surrounding areas.  Then Helene hit with winds averaging around 40 mph and gusts to 105 mph.  Over 30 inches of rain fell in some parts of North Carolina, into an area already saturated with water, causing flooding that has never been seen in North Carolina history (in some cases by double). Rivers left their banks and wiped out towns and villages, killing many in the valleys below. The sound of helicopters can be heard today transferring their bodies out of the valleys.  On top of that, the storm spun off dozens of tornados that wiped out huge areas. It was literally a 1-in-1,000 year monster storm of Biblical proportions.

COMING HOME

I was able to trade my ticket with American for a flight that same day (a miracle). On Saturday night, I arrived into Charlotte (a miracle), rented a car (a miracle), and found roads that could be passed into Asheville (a miracle).  I made it to my house (which was undamaged – a miracle), got my generator (the one used in a story in the book Well Done – if you don’t know it, I’ll tell you sometime), found two gas cans at EE (EE was undamaged – a miracle), found an open gas station (a miracle – seriously… there were none), and made it to my daughter and son-in-law’s, which is where Ann was (a miracle). I arrived at 5 am. The generator gave us light and preserved food, which is still in significant demand and hard to find.

THE HEARTBREAKING TOLL ON OUR COMMUNITY

As of today, we’ve passed 250 that have died from Hurricane Helene, with hundreds still unaccounted for.  Many remain without electricity and water.  Water that does work cannot be consumed without being boiled.  Life will be difficult here for a while. The devastation is simply beyond what I have seen in my life, and that comes from a Nebraska boy who has seen plenty of tornados and a Floridian who has lived through a number of massive hurricanes…

Jeff Givens, EE’s VP for Ministry Advancement, wrote:

“A dear friend of ours had to leave a family stranded as they left Swannanoa they had packed their car completely full of people, unsure if they would survive. There’s a story on Facebook of a grandfather and a 6-year-old boy who were on their roof awaiting rescue as the river had risen to the roofline…only for the roof to collapse, claiming their lives. These are just the things that I know.  Businesses, homes, schools, and churches are gone. Towns are gone, and people are gone too.”

GOD’S PROVISION

Truly heart-wrenching.  But all in all, we are still very blessed in the midst of great tragedy:

• All of our staff are accounted for.  This is a big deal.
• We are unaware of any substantial damage to any of our homes. Everyone has debris to clean up, but that would be expected.
• We have been able to find food and water. Some have needed to evacuate to Charlotte but have been able to.
• We do have the resources to pay our staff, giving them time to focus on shelter and helping others.
• The office is undamaged. We got power, water, and internet back.
• Many Gospel conversations are being had, worship services are happening in our neighborhoods, and prayers are being lifted up with people who aren’t normally open to such things.
• And we’ve seen neighbors come together to care for each other and help each other out in a substantive way.

I don’t know what the immediate future holds. We now have our staff back safely in the office (we praise God for their safety and for a headquarters where we can provide relief for our staff). All of our staff and we as a ministry are doing our best to support churches in the area conducting relief efforts. We are providing training for volunteers and materials that share the life-saving news of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for your prayers. God heard them and answered in a strong way. As with all such crisis moments, this provides proof that being prepared to share Jesus is vital. We’ll keep you updated…

Till Everyone Hears,

Dr. John B. Sorensen

President/CEO, Evangelism Explosion International

PS – Today is the day to share with your neighbors, friends, and family about Jesus. Use our free online evangelism tract and share the Good News of the Gospel with your community: https://evangelismexplosion.org/resources/#ot. This is our heartbeat here in Asheville as we minister to our community.

For more on going to the nations with the Gospel, read my last blog post: https://www.sharelife.today/2024/06/13/go-to-the-nations/.