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Dave Marshall:
It’s after midnight on October 1 here in western North Carolina. I am writing this by candlelight with no power. I’ll have to find a computer to type it up later. We were supposed to be getting ready for prime leaf season in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains here in Hendersonville. Instead, we are still in shock from Hurricane Helene. None of us were ready; no one was truly prepared. You don’t imagine that a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico could destroy neighborhoods, communities, and entire towns way up here in the mountains. We thought we might get a little wind and rain, and maybe lose power for a couple of days at most. But everyone here knows people who have lost everything . . . homes, businesses, and (most of all) loved ones. It’s heartbreaking. Emergency workers, police, firemen, and hospitals are all overrun. The needs are epic, and it looks like a war zone. Schools are suspended indefinitely. Rescue workers are saving lives every day now. It will take months or years to recover.
And yet, after digging our way out of the fallen trees and mudslides in our neighborhoods, what we’ve been seeing is nothing short of a miracle. People from all over the United States and the world are calling, texting, sending WhatsApp notes, and messaging through Facebook. (Thank you, Facebook Messenger! Thank you Mark Zukerberg!) Thank you Elon Musk for starlink! Only way I can communicate right now. Everyone is offering to lend a hand, give, or pray (and often, all three). I have barely been able to keep up with all the wonderful requests to help. Forgive me if it takes a while to get back to you; cell service is slow, and a charged phone is a luxury.
We have heard from friends in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, Colorado, Alaska, Maine, and the list goes on. We’ve even heard from contacts in Israel, Russia, Japan, Honduras, and Nepal. People simply want to help. Every time I look at my phone, I see another miracle. And YES! If you send it (money or supplies), we will give it away.
Hundreds of volunteers from our church and all around the community are coming out to help, even though they have their own personal needs to consider. The fact is, people just need the basics to survive right now in the mountains: food, water, shelter, medicine. But it’s all happening . . . resources are materializing . . . because of your love and generous spirit. As folks at our church were preparing supply bags for those in need yesterday, more supplies would arrive just as we thought there was no more to give. I was blown away. So many churches are calling and just packing trailers. Walmart foundation is sending an 18 wheeler. Congressmen have come by to help. Restaurants and bars are collecting and asking their patrons to help. Shout out to the Codfather in Charleston to get things started. Running club in Charlotte thank you! Alexander the Great Events from Oxford AL keeps bringing trucks.. Former church members filling u-haul from their friends and just dropping off stuff. Cosco just gave them supplies. Old friends from high school- Meridian High, college Belhaven and my old sweet church friends from Meridian MS, Jackson MS, and Memphis TN. Thank you! Thank you for giving monetarily as well. It will all go to help those in need.
I have been blessed to travel to Israel multiple times. My favorite place there is off the beaten path in the Galilee region called Tabgha. A small Benedictine church there has a mosaic commemorating the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, also known as the Feeding of the 5,000. You can read all about it in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 14, verses 13-21, but here is a short paraphrase: Jesus saw a large crowd and had compassion on them and healed their sick. The crowd got big, and some told Jesus to send them away. Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. Give them something to eat.” But they found only five loaves and two fish to feed everyone. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to Heaven, gave thanks to God, and broke the bread. Then they distributed it to all the people. They all ate, were satisfied, and had food left over. The number was about 5,000, plus women and children.
The picture of that mosaic is here on my Facebook page. It’s one of the most well-known mosaics in the Holy Land. You might notice something peculiar about it - something is missing. There are only four loaves in the mosaic! How could the artist mistakenly only put four loaves in this famous biblical work? I wondered this, and I found a monk at the church in Tabgha to ask why. He told me that it was a simple reminder that you and I are to be the fifth loaf. We are to be the hands and feet of Jesus!
I want to thank you for being the “fifth loaf” for western North Carolina. Tractor trailers loaded with supplies are coming from all kinds of places in the next few days. People are giving what they can - from carloads of food and water, to donations, to everything else. We are being privileged to witness a miracle. I asked some of our “numbers people” how many folks they thought were given food and water yesterday. They all agreed that it was about 5,000, and we had leftovers. Praise Jesus and thank you, friends!
We love you from WNC!
Dave Marshall
Executive Pastor
First Baptist Church, Hendersonville, North Carolina
828-290-5999
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