With trembling hands, the young mom helped her preschool daughter take hold of the gold-handled scissors and cut the red ribbon running across the opening of their front porch. With a high-pitched squeal of glee, the 4-year-old cut the ribbon, and the family embraced one another. After nearly two years of being displaced from their home due to tropical storm Helene in 2024, this family was celebrating an end to their traumatic journey and a new beginning with their home renovations complete. This family was officially moving back into their home and neighborhood; it was a moment to be remembered.

The winds of Helene uprooted numerous trees onto this family’s home, damaging it beyond imagination. Upon accepting help from ReachGlobal Crisis Response, they humbly witnessed an opportunity to gaze upon the glory of the Lord and see His work unfold. This family and their neighborhood witnessed how:

• The Lord brought faithful volunteers from all over the country to frame walls, rebuild stairs, lay flooring, hang drywall, paint, including people who specialized in construction, contracting, plumbing, electrical, and treework.
• Trees that once plagued the family with fear were felled, chopped, and stacked so the threat of them falling on the home was removed.
• The Lord brought people to walk with, pray with, and help faithfully rebuild not only a house, but restore hope within this young family by continuing to encourage them to draw near and know the Lord.

Many people in the neighborhoods where ReachGlobal ministered have enjoyed restored community and deeper relationships. Over the past two years, they have gathered for weekly neighborhood cook-outs and Bible studies. However, as new storms have cropped up, winds rose, and the rain fell, anxiety continues to be a constant issue. Even as the two-year anniversary draws near on September 27th, this emotional tension runs rampant when the rain falls for days on end. Yet, these communities have discovered what a joy it is to have the gift of one another to lean on, as well as the comfort of faith in our mighty Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And while Crisis Response won’t be in these neighborhoods for forever, it is a blessing to have the foundation of the Lord laid as well as relationships established.

Truth be told, in any circumstance people face, we have the opportunity to choose to focus on the impossibility of the mountain before us; or turn to God—gazing upon His glory, inviting Him in, and allowing Him to walk the journey with us. With Him, we can be assured that we will walk through circumstances protected, upheld, and beloved. After all, He promises that His presence is always with us and He never forsakes us. So, through it all: hardship, decision making, and the opportunities to celebrate God’s blessings, may we keep our eyes fixed on our Savior and the joy of how He alone restores, redeems, and renews.

As we pass the two-year mark of Helene, and there remains more rebuilding to be completed, we ask that you pray over how God may be calling you to this area in service to Him. Is He calling you to help serve, witness, and/or be a part of the rebuilding process here in the mountains of North Carolina? Email respond@efca.org to reserve a week for a 2027 team from your church. May our hope be continually restored as we marvel over how our Almighty God invites us into His work of continued renewal and redemption.