Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Good Shepherd Social Ministry

North Carolina Hurricane Relief

Over the Veterans Day weekend, 2003, three members of Good Shepherd traveled to North Carolina to participate in disaster relief efforts being coordinated by the Methodist Church.  In brief, most of their work was in the coastal town of Sea Level, NC, heavily damaged from unprecedented flooding two months ago after Hurricane Isabel. In this town of 300 residents (mostly elderly and/or living on the margins), nearly all homes were flooded, but few volunteers other than family members have come to help, because, unlike in 1999, no sustained media and political attention has announced the area's plight. Numerous towns along the coast were hit hard in September that had been spared in 1999, as they saw debris from homes piled for miles.  They assisted in two homes of elderly residents whose needs had been identified by Pastor Paul Harris of Sea Level's Methodist church (itself flooded).  Their tasks were tearing out damaged drywall in one house and floors and molding in the other house.  They uncovered extensive long-term termite damage in addition to recent flood damage in the first house, so the home's survival is in doubt.  The owner's grandson told our Good Shepherd members that they were the first non-family members to have assisted in the house. The second house, thanks to sturdy construction lacking in neighboring homes, may survive, but it must be stripped down to prevent further damage from mold (evident in closets, behind molding, and in personal items remaining in the home).

Time is working against these folks, as the demand for assistance far exceeds the supply of volunteers.  Once again, we see that God's presence through us, his Frontline Servants, gives hope to those in despair, an outcome far more significant than "measurable" results of our labor.  And once again, our follow-up tasks are to enlist others to follow God's path to the water's edge.

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