Hey friends and family!
I’m so grateful to be writing this post to you all. Most of you know what happened to my squad and me on Friday, but here’s an account of what happened and the facts:
On Monday, September 23rd, K squad left from Gainesville, GA to Black Mountain, NC for a week of domestic ministry. Hurricane Helene was on our radar as it was beginning to impact our area. After 3 days of serving and doing manual labor with Black Mountain Home for Children, our final day of ministry on Friday was cancelled due to heavy rain and flood warnings. At 8 a.m. on September 27th we were woken up to evacuate our cabins and move to higher ground to the lodge at the camp we were staying at. We were all safe inside, but kept our eyes on the waterfall of water coming down the mountain and beginning to flood the right side of the lodge. Around 9:10 a.m., my squad mate, Mitch, was watching the water out the window and saw a landslide coming towards us. He yelled, “landslide, get out!”. I heard rushing wind, windows breaking, and wood structures cracking as I ran out the door. All 36 of us made it out as the right half of the lodge was completely destroyed. I have never been more scared in my entire life. Our cabins further down were destroyed and many belongings were swept away. There was water flooding in from the left and the right, but regardless we made it to higher ground on a parking pad nearby. We were trapped in the pouring rain for almost 2 hours because the way out was flooded with a river. Some men from BMHC came with rope to help us cross the river in pairs. We all made it to the other side and were transported by a bus to the gymnasium at BMHC. They provided us with food, water, shelter, clothes, sleeping bags, and blankets. We were warmly welcomed with love. That afternoon, a team from AIM arrived with extra support, after spending hours trying to find a way to get to us since many roads were closed. That night, due to uncertain circumstances and the possibility of being stuck until at least Monday, we were shuttled to the Holiday Inn where we slept and were given pillows and free breakfast the next morning. On Saturday at 9 a.m. we loaded into a bus from a squad mates church in Tennessee and drove back to Gainesville and arrived that afternoon.
God planned out every detail and miraculously spared us. The past few days has been miracles upon miracles, here’s a list of just some of what I witnessed God do for us:
– the vans sitting in front of the cabins got moved by our leaders early in the morning to the parking pad
– we were woken up early by our host to move from cabins
– Mitch was looking out the window and saw the it coming
– nobody died, only 1 broken ankle
– a survival specialist helped us cross the river
– BMHC and the Holiday Inn supported us so generously
– AIM made it to us even with closed roads
– we had service to call family when we got to the gymnasium
– we found open roads to drive home
– I’m alive! God saved all of us!
Currently, I’m still processing. Yes, God saved all of us and we’re all ok and home safe, but also, I went through a traumatic event and I could’ve died and there’s a lot of emotions that come with that. God is definitely growing my emotional processing skills that’s for sure. I typically try to shove it all down, so I’m learning to bring it to Him and let him walk me through each emotion to come out stronger and more joyful and more faithful on the other side. And I’m not alone. I have my whole squad, all of AIM staff, and still my friends and fam back home. So many people who want to love me and support me.
So yeah, this last week was not what I or anyone expected, but God moved. I am safest when I rely on him, and that’s what I did, that’s all I could do when I was in such physical danger. He came through. He answered all the prayers of the many, many people who were praying for us. He heard our cries. He even sent us 5 rainbows throughout the week leading up to it as a promise that he would be faithful to us even in the storm. Praise God, he’s so good.
Please continue to pray for my squad as we process this! Also please pray for logistics of getting all of us to Guatemala next week!
