‘I’m blessed’: Church crews respond to storms

In late September, it had already been raining for days in Western North Carolina before the remnants of Hurricane Helene delivered another slow-moving storm front.

Residents sheltered in place and watched as creeks and streams rapidly filled and then flooded nearby homes. The water receded over the coming days, leaving homeowners to deal with mud and mold.

Fortunately, help would soon arrive. United Methodist Early Response Teams are trained to move in quickly following natural disasters.

It’s been six weeks since 69-year-old Anita McKinney had to flee her home during the days of heavy rain brought by Hurricane Helene.

Since the storm, United Methodist disaster response teams have been helping homeowners repair their homes at just the cost of materials.

“You know, no one out here in the mountains, I shouldn’t say no one, but most people don’t think about flood insurance. This just isn’t an area that’s prone to big floods like they had,” said Carolyn Koontz from Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, who travels for two rebuilding projects a year. She’s made about 24 trips in her years as a trained Volunteer in Mission.

“We joined Bethlehem United Methodist Church because they had two trailers that were Volunteer in Mission Early Response trailers and I said, ‘That’s the church we need to go to.’”

Volunteers in Mission teams come in right after tornadoes, floods or hurricanes and keep coming back for years, because that’s how long it takes for communities to come back from a storm like Helene. This crew hopes to see McKinney back in her home by this time next year.

“They are doing wonderful — nice people — and helping a lot. I’m blessed. There’s a lot of good left in the world,” McKinney said.

Koontz said it’s what United Methodists are called to do.

“I just love that we’re the last ones to turn out the lights at the end of the project, and that The United Methodist Church is committed to helping communities in need from start to finish.”

To help those devastated by Hurricane Helene and other recent natural disasters, donations can be made to the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s U.S. Disaster Response. UMCOR also offers resources for disaster relief fundraising.

UM News contact: Julie Dwyer at (615) 742-5470 or [email protected]. To read more news from The United Methodist Church, subscribe to the free Daily Digest or Weekly Digest.

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now
Violence
At least 100 people, including eight United Methodists, have been killed in fighting in Goma, Congo, between the Congolese armed forces and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels. The security situation has continued to deteriorate since the M23’s major offensive on Jan. 23. Image courtesy of Google Maps.

United Methodists killed in Congo conflict

At least 100 people, including eight United Methodists, were killed in fighting in Goma between the Congolese armed forces and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels.
Disaster Relief
Women receive food during a distribution operation in Beni, Congo. With a United Methodist Committee on Relief grant, more than 125 tons of food rations, hygiene products and other supplies were distributed to families who fled their homes due to unrest in the country. Photo courtesy of the East Congo Episcopal Area disaster management office.

Church responds to humanitarian crisis in Congo

With financial support from UMCOR, more than 12,000 people displaced by conflict received food and other needed supplies.
A portion of Hong Kong at night as seen from Victoria Peak. More than 400,000 migrant domestic workers live in Hong Kong, about five percent of the total population. They cook and clean and care for children, pets, and the elderly. They also at times endure horrible treatment. Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

United Methodists support migrant workers in Hong Kong

A United Methodist pastor from the Philippines and a deaconess from the U.S. work to empower migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. The migrants are mostly women who often face difficult challenges in both their workplace and their relationship to families back home.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2025 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved