Hey Blog family!
Here’s an update on our week in Black Mountain, North Carolina (September 20–26), where we had the incredible to serve with the Adventures Relief team doing hurricane relief work. The area had been hit by a hurricane last September, and interestingly, there was actually a World Race Gap Year Squad doing ministry in Black Mountain when the hurricane hit. One of our coaches was with that squad and shared how God showed up and the miracle of how they got rescued!
Black Mountain Ministry:
Our first day full day in North Carolina was a Sunday so team Charis went to Generational church which wasn’t far from Black Mountain. After church, we spent some time exploring the town of Black Mountain— grabbing coffee and walking around the streets and the cute shops.
Our ministry team was led by two skilled leaders, Donte and Garrett, who oversaw the work orders for the houses we were assigned. The first home we worked on belonged to a man named Dudley, and here’s what we got to do:
- Put in a few cabinets & countertops
- Share God stories with Donte & Garrett (our skilled leaders)
- Got to walk around town & pray over people
- Have a few dance breaks!!!
- When to Old Fort Elementary, which was right across the street from Dudley’s house, and got to pray and worship in the front yard, then some of the staff invited us in for cinnamon rolls after & shared a little of what they experienced during the hurricane!
- We got to go see a bible that had survived the hurricane, it was stuck on a pole open to Revelations 14 & 15 still readable. The owner of the property shared there was water 18 ft tall and was amazed that the bible survived. The bible was left where they found it and a case and a cross were placed around it
We also got to meet Dudley and he shared what they went through during the hurricane. It was so incredible to hear all the stories about how the hurricane had effected people and my heart went out to everyone that had lost almost everything!
Second House Highlights:
- Installed crawlspace insulation
- Had a blast dancing in the rain in our insulation suits
- Continued receiving encouragement and wisdom from Donte and Garrett
Before we left Donte & Garrett gifted us some books and journals for our trip. We’re blessed with the opportunity to visit Black Mountain again next May when we get back from our last country! Donte & Garret said that they will make sure to be there that week!
More about Black Mountain:
The base we stayed at in Black Mountain had a high fire risk, so part of our responsibility was to take shifts walking a lap around the large warehouse tent every hour, to check for a fire. At Adventures Relief, they call this time Prayer Burn — you’d take a lap around and spend the rest of the time with the Lord. As Racers, we had the opportunity to sign up for shifts and spend an hour praying and interceding over the base. I ended up with a few 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. shifts — and while they were early, they were such meaningful times of spending time with God.
One of the most unexpected highlights was meeting two of the skilled leaders who used to be Amish. They were both from Canada, and Karen and I had an amazing conversation with them. We got to hear a bit of their stories and learn about their background. It was such an incredible reminder that I’m not the only one with this unique upbringing out here serving the Lord!
Debrief Week:
After returning from Black Mountain, we spent a week debriefing before heading to Colombia. This time was all about reflecting on Training Camp and our hurricane relief experience, reconnecting with our leaders and coaches, and getting some much-needed rest.
The night we returned from North Carolina, we planned to go back to camping in our tents. We’d just finished setting them up when we got bad news: a hurricane was on the way. We quickly packed everything up again and moved to our dining deck. We all ended up camping inside a big room — boys on one side, girls on the other. Thankfully, we didn’t get any serious weather and were able to have a beautiful last week in the States!
That’s a wrap on our week in Black Mountain and first debrief week! Thanks for following along!
Until next time,
Heidi
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