Mitchell County church serves as a beacon of hope after Helene

Spruce Pine First Baptist Church in Mitchell County has been a beacon of hope since Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina in late September. 

After Helene hit, thanks to a generator, it was the only building in town with electricity. Since then, it has served as a distribution center for clothes, food, and generators and even as a shelter for those who lost their homes.

“We were able to have people in our church, especially people with oxygen that had to have electricity, so we had an oxygen room,” Pastor Rocky Branch told Carolina Journal in a recent phone interview. “People were brought to us that otherwise would have been in a difficult place. We had people that were flooded out, of course, a lot of those, and some of those come to our church, and they had their pets, and the police asked if we could take them, and I said, of course, we could take them, and so we had the dogs in the church, and all kinds of stuff going on. So, we were blessed.”

He said they also had a doctor on call four days after the storm hit who was doing wellness checks and a little pharmacy.

The church, which normally serves over 100 meals every Wednesday, has also been serving meals and has been a place of shelter for many since the storm.

“We have served over 40,000 meals in 55 days, and we probably have between 30 and 50 people sleeping in our church that we are taking care of and ministering to, and it’s just such a wonderful thing, and we’re just so blessed, and so honored that God would trust us with this situation and that’s what I consider it to be a trust that we would do the right thing so that’s what we’re trying to do,” Pastor Branch said.

He expects those people to be with the church until February and will likely serve over 100,000 meals by then.

The Baptist Disaster Relief team has also set up in the church, feeding its workers as it sends teams to help people in the area.

But they will soon be moving to an empty elementary school they purchased. The school will be a hub for the next five years or so as they help rebuild homes.  When everything is up to code and ready, those staying in the church will also move to the building.

“They have a five-year plan to rebuild Mitchell County, and it’s gonna take that long because it’s total devastation,” Pastor Branch told CJ. “Roads are gone, bridges are gone, railroad tracks are in the rive,r houses are gone. It’s just an unbelievable massacre of land and trees.”

He said the church is grateful for the opportunity to serve so many of its friends and neighbors in need.

“We’re given a great opportunity by the Lord to make this thing work and we also have propane and heaters and tents and the store in the sanctuary,” Pastor Branch said. “My wife runs the store with volunteers, and we take grocery buggies, and the people come and get a grocery bag, and they run through the aisles with it, and they get whatever they need, and we have a ramp that goes all the way down to the main parking lot so they can push it all the way down to the bottom. It’s fantastic how it’s all working out and coming together.”

He said the church’s strength has been increased by seeing people and families that have lost everything come through and get what they need.

The church also served as a drop-off location for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child ministry,a tradition they have carried on for the past 23 years. Despite this year’s disaster, the congregation was committed to a goal of sending 1,000 shoebox gifts to children all around the world but was expected to receive nearly 4,000. These gifts will contribute towards the regional goal of over 139,000 shoebox gifts for all of western North Carolina—a goal they’ve remained committed to even after Helene devasted these communities.

Community members can drop off Toys for Tots donations there as well. The church will be collecting gifts to help hundreds of local families this Christmas.

The post Mitchell County church serves as a beacon of hope after Helene first appeared on Carolina Journal.