Hey everyone! If you follow me on Instagram, then I’m sure you’ve seen the posts about Hurricane Helene hitting the camp my team and I were staying at. I am sure you’ve also seen the scary picture of half a building getting washed away. I just want to preface everything by saying that I am perfectly well, and so is my entire team, praise the Lord! We were in that building when it was hit. My squad and I were woken up at 8:00 AM, being told to the dining hall because that was safer since trees were falling. Once we got there, everybody settled in and me and some of us started playing a game of Uno. Shortly after is when the landslide, trees, and an actual cabin hit the training lodge. Luckily, multiple people saw the landslide and debris coming towards us so they were able to tell everybody to run and get out so that nobody got hit. That was one of the many blessings we got from God that day. After everybody got out, we had to stand out in the open waiting for instructions for an hour or two. We were wet, cold, stressed, and scared. We definitely did not feel safe. Our only comfort was the peace of the Lord. There were so many things that could’ve gone wrong. So many ways lives could’ve been changed, and not for the better. But my God is a good God. One who protects His children. And one who provides. The half of the dining hall that was wiped away was cleared out because of flooding. Since nobody was allowed over there, nobody was there when the building was hit. The landslide that hit literally created a river of mud and debris through the entire camp. That was one reason we had to wait around for so long. It wasn’t safe for us to cross. But God provides. On staff is a man who is a trained survival specialist, and I wish I had his name, but I don’t. This man was scouting out the river for us until he found a safe spot for us to cross. He gave us instruction and guided us through to safety. Another blessing is that just across the street was a group home we had served at the day before and it was on the top of a hill, not surrounded by trees. God continued to show up because a lot of people brought their Bibles to the dining hall. Almost every person who was able to recover their Bible had very little to no water damage on their bibles, covers, and pens. Words can’t describe how scary it was and how unprepared we were to face something like this, but God‘s goodness and his faithfulness just shown through in every area. It was incredible to see God work and move and to see God protect us in supernatural ways. I can also say that our squad is closer than it’s ever been and we have truly bonded in a way that I believe will never be broken. Before this event, we always said we were family and that was true then, but it’s even more true now. We’ve seen each other at our absolute lowest, if we could face this together, then we can face anything together. I thank the Lord for everything he did for us in this circumstance. It’s beyond words what he did and how he protected us. Please, please pray for us and all of our teammates because people are still recovering. We’re still very emotional about it and would really appreciate prayer for physical, emotional, and mental healing through this and that we can process this in a correct, healthy way. Please also pray that we can continue to see the Lord’s provision in our lives.
