Update from Hurricane Florence Relief Efforts
“I've never been prayed for like that!”
Conway, SC
The amount of flooding in Conway overwhelmed many residents, who have had to relocate until they are in a position to “mud out” their homes. St. Paul’s Conway is helping their neighbors with the help of donors from across the country.
Thanks to donors like you, ARDF sent over $75,000 to the Carolinas for Hurricane Florence relief efforts. This report comes from the Rev. Jason Collins, Rector of St. Paul’s Church, in Conway, SC.
Conway, SC experienced severe flooding after Hurricane Florence. Months later, many houses remain in terrible shape. Members of St. Paul’s Conway, along with volunteers from other churches have been volunteering on weekends to “mud out” houses in the community. Rev. Jason Collins describes one incident that is indicative of how the local church can have a tremendous impact.
“We went to mud-out a house that had been sitting untouched for several weeks after the flood. The owners had been (and remain) living in a hotel in Myrtle Beach because of the condition of the house.
The HOA in this neighborhood is very strict and debris from the house could not be placed in the yard, so a trash dumpster was required. The homeowner is a widow who was recovering from back and neck surgery while also caring for a disabled son, so she did not have the money for a dumpster.
We went about working on other houses in the neighborhood, but the Holy Spirit kept nudging us back to this house. When we received a financial donation from ARDF, we decided to use the money to pay for a dumpster so work could be done on the house.
By the time we were able to clean out the house, it had been 6 weeks since the hurricane and flood. Mold covered EVERYTHING: furniture, flooring, walls, and personal belongings. But with a crew of volunteers from our church (St. Paul's-Conway), Holy Cross-Sullivans Island, and St. Philip's-Charleston, we were able to fill 1.5 dumpsters with damaged personal belongings and 1.5 dumpsters of construction debris. We were able to completely clean out the house in 1 day!
On top of that, the homeowner was blessed beyond measure when a prayer team from our church and Christ-St. Paul's Church on Yonges Island, SC (which also included Archdeacon Mark Mukan from the Diocese of Jos of the Anglican Church of Nigeria) prayed for her and over her property.
The owner was blessed and filled by the Holy Spirit with joy and encouragement. She exclaimed, ‘I've NEVER been prayed for like that! When this is all over, I'm coming to your church!’ She was also blessed with staples that were donated by other churches and with food purchased with the funds from ARDF.
While she was blessed, the blessing has been ours as we were able to witness the Lord Jesus provide for her in this very difficult situation. This blessing was made possible in part through the financial support we received from ARDF and other donors around the Diocese of South Carolina and around the nation and world. For your support and theirs, we in Conway, SC remain ever grateful.” - The Rev. Jason Collins, Conway, SC.
ARDF is grateful to have Jesus-loving partners on the ground who follow the lead of the Holy Spirit as they reach out to their communities in need.
Please join us in praying for the ongoing efforts in the Carolinas,
St. Paul’s Church in Conway, SC has been serving their neighbors in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. Even after four months, the clean up is not complete.
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