By Taytum Marler

Recently, I had the opportunity to go help the people of western North Carolina, and the experience was incredibly humbling. Whether you are eating up what the news is telling you or getting your information by word of mouth, there is no denying that they need serious help. I went a week after the storm hit, I did not even come close to seeing the full effect of the storm, and even still what remained was enough to make me cry.

My church was sending one team to Hendersonville, where we would meet up with a ministry organization for the weekend. From the stories we all heard, we prepared for the worst. It may have been a little hasty, seeing as most of us were not prepared or trained for what we all wanted to do, but there was an overall call in the team that we were sent to help, to be the hands and feet of Jesus as it were. When we arrived in Hendersonville, we were ready to jump in wherever we needed, however, we were met with a lot of waiting around. The organization we worked with is great for moving resources and getting the word out for volunteers, but we all wanted more than they would allow. My team spent 2 days with them, and by the time we left, the word “liability” was easily interchangeable with “bureaucracy bull.” Next door to the first job we went on we saw this little, old lady dragging branches out of her yard by herself, when it was mentioned to our team lead, she effectively said we could not help her because we are only “allowed” to help those who came to us and filled out a form. This did not sit well with me. The restrictions that were tacked on to helping people “in the name of Jesus” was unbelievable.

There was also an overall feel that people there just wanted to pat themselves on the back, get free meals, and go home proud that they “sacrificed” when the only real thing they gave up was their Saturday. There were far too many people who were comfortable within the lines of only doing the minimum requirement. I know this is a lot of complaining, but when you hear from multiple people, “I want to help but only if I do not have to do [fill in the blank]” it gets on your nerves. If you are handing out water bottles for 3 days straight or are knee deep in mud, cleaning out houses, you suck up your pride and help those who may have lost everything. To us on the outside it is a week/weekend endeavor to go help, but that is someone’s livelihood that has been washed away; we must understand going into it that they do not get to go home to a warm bed and hot shower like we do, so the more support to get them back to the normal luxuries we enjoy, the better.

After two days of trimming trees and raking leaves, my team and I all agreed that Hendersonville was fine, it was not in danger and had plenty of resources to go around, so we all packed up and went out on our own to Swannanoa. Driving into town was unforgettable: sinkholes everywhere, trash piled up, dust and mud, and an overall air of desperation. You immediately became overwhelmed by the sheer amount of chaos that was everywhere, but we had to push that thought aside because we had a job to do. We arrived at this little neighborhood that one of our team members had connections in, and spent all day completely gutting their house. The stories we heard were enough to break our hearts. One man said he was wearing the shoes he swam out in, and another lady was telling how children were walking around blue from cold and shock when the waters receded. That alone made me bawl my eyes out when we finally left.

This was my experience, which was ultimately mild compared to some. I wish I could have done more; if I was able to aid in search and rescue, believe me I would have. However, it was a beautiful experience to see the gospel shared and to specifically pray for the people we helped. To me it seemed that there were a ton of resources and volunteers, which is amazing, but what is really needed there is equipment to move the rocks and debris. We were able to get the houses cleaned out and roads cleared up but that just made piles no one could move; there needed to be dumpsters and heavy machinery to actually make an impact. If you have access to either and can spare them for a few days, I heavily encourage you to find an organization that you can volunteer with! Now as we go into the colder months, we really need to be getting power and heating to Western North Carolina; winter clothes and blankets are also a must. If you are able and willing to help, I encourage you to go. Not only do you help those who need it, but it will quickly humble you and you will begin being more grateful for things that you may forget are a privilege.