As the Midwest begins to recover from historic flooding last week, Christian relief agencies are delivering hundreds of thousands of pounds of essential aid items and offering spiritual support, which, for many, is the most impactful part of the recovery process.
The Missouri-based nondenominational aid charity Convoy of Hope is providing food and water, cleanup supplies and other essential goods to residents of Indiana as the state reels from historic flooding along the Whitewater River, which followed six days of steady rainfall.
Through several truckloads, Convoy of Hope has distributed more than 100,000 pounds of products to more than 6,000 people in Indiana, said spokesperson Ethan Forhetz.
The charity is working out of the Indiana towns of Anderson, Muncie, New Castle and La Porte, in collaboration with partner churches in those communities. With the exception of the northwest Indiana-based La Porte, the communities Convoy of Hope is operating in are located in eastern Indiana.
Forhetz told The Christian Post that Convoy of Hope team members on the ground have witnessed “homes washed out, roads washed out, [and] bridges washed out.” The storm has left families with damaged homes and vehicles.
“We’re partnering with local churches throughout that area,” Forhetz said. “We just had a distribution [Monday], I know, at one of the churches where people could come through and get supplies, the basic supplies that people need following this sort of thing.”
Church distributions hand out food, water and cleaning supplies, he said.
“Because a lot of flash flooding gets up in a home quickly, it recedes fairly quickly as well,” Forhetz said. “People are left with a giant mess in their house that they need to clean up.”
A group of volunteers with Convoy of Hope’s Community Care Response Team works as a “mini-counseling unit” that goes door to door to pray with survivors and offer encouragement. They are also present at distribution events.
“What people are lacking in these situations is hope. There’s a sense of hopelessness,” he added. “And when our team can … sit down with somebody one-on-one and just talk with them, hear them out, the people, the survivors know that they are seen, they’re heard, there’s a God who loves them and it gives them really hope that tomorrow is going to be a better day than today.”
“A lot of the people that we see go through … our distribution lines, I’ll talk to them at the end of it,” Forhetz added. “They appreciate all of the tangible supplies, yes. But what they get most out of is the … arm on the shoulder, a fellow human saying, ‘Hey, we’re with you. We’re praying for you. You’re going to get through this,’ just offering words of encouragement during a difficult time. It can be the hope that somebody needs in a difficult situation.”
While Forhetz discussed how “there has been additional rainfall” in Indiana since the relief efforts began, he expressed gratitude that “the flooding has not regained where it was.”
Residents of neighboring Ohio are also dealing with the aftermath of severe weather. Forhetz indicated that Convoy of Hope is in talks with contacts in Ohio and other parts of Indiana about potential relief efforts there.
The Evangelical humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse has volunteers on the ground in the hard-hit city of Zanesville, Ohio. Samaritan’s Purse Vice President of North American Disaster Relief Jason Kimak said that many families are unsure what to do next, as some homes have received more than 2 feet of floodwater.
“It’s been a tough several days here. The flooding occurred last week on Aug. 11. Then over the weekend, they continued to have more rain and that caused some of these same families to get more water in their home,” Kimak told CP. “And so every time it rains, there’s an anxiousness about it.”
Many families are “just overwhelmed with what to do next,” he added.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has declared a state of emergency for Muskingum County, which includes Zanesville, and Perry County.
Basing its on-the-ground operations at Rolling Plain Methodist Church in Zanesville, Samaritan’s Purse is helping flood victims “mud out” flooded basements, remove soiled drywall and flooring, salvage personal belongings and take any strewn debris or fallen trees to the curb.
“When you do a mud out, you’re cutting drywall, you’re taking out the insulation, you’re taking out the flooring,” Kimak explained.
“And then once we get all of the damaged pieces of the walls and flooring out, we use a spray that helps kill mold and prevent it from coming back. So we have that. If there’s debris in homes, we help clean up debris,” Kimak added. “We have skid steers; we have chainsaws that can help with trees that have fallen or have been swept into a yard. And so we get all that out to the road. And so yeah, with that unit, we have all the equipment needed to help get these homes to a point where they’re contractor ready.”
The organization is also enlisting Billy Graham Evangelistic Association chaplains to “pray with homeowners and encourage local residents with the hope of the Gospel.”
“They’ll go in and sit and get to know the family, hear their story,” Kimak said. “Chaplains are great listeners, and they come in to listen, but then they also want to provide that spiritual support. So they spend time in prayer with them and find out ways they can continue to pray with them.”
“The chaplains are alongside with the volunteers, sharing the Gospel with these families to provide hope for them, not just from the storm immediately but spiritually for the rest of their life,” he stated. Kimak urged people to “continue to pray for these families who’ve gone through this flood” and “pray for the volunteers and staff.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
