North Carolina Hurricane Recovery: Help Still Needed
Eliana-Joy Briceno was met with a horrible stench when she entered the house, and soon a dark heaviness pressed down upon her. Following the teen girl into her bedroom, Eliana-Joy was taken aback. The only light in the pitch-black room, the laptop screen cast a ghastly glow on the macabre art tacked to the grimy walls. Describing them as fur-like with blood-matted animal hair and teeth poking out, Eliana-Joy would soon learn they were demonically inspired masks and papier-mâché body parts. Oh wow, this is gonna be fun, she thought, then whispered under her breath, Thank you, Lord, for getting me off roof duty. Now help me, please!
In partnership with host Calvary Chapel Asheville in Mills River, NC, 18-year-old volunteer Eliana-Joy and the U.S. Outreach team from Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, VA, were repairing the roof of a home damaged by the hurricane that hit Western North Carolina in September 2024. “It was messy, and my hands hurt,” confessed Eliana-Joy, who is disabled with a connective tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. “[Earlier] I was up there praying: Lord, why did you bring me here? I’m hot, sweaty, and dirty, and You see the complaints in my heart. Please make it clear why I am here.”
Billy Osigian has pastored CC Asheville for 33 years, serving as a chaplain for 20 of them. Admittedly, even though he was trained in disaster response and has been on multiple international mission trips, he and his congregation were not initially equipped for the aftermath of the hurricane—the devastating floods and mudslides leaving many without homes or with dwellings unfit for habitation, especially in remote areas still only reachable by mule or horseback. Almost a year later, Pastor Billy marvels at what God has done through the faithful in his church and from churches across America.
With a longstanding history of long-term disaster response, Calvary Chapel Philadelphia, PA, Assistant Pastor Jerry Paradise saw an opportunity for the body of Christ to shine, remarking, “The Church never looks so well as it does when it responds to a disaster.” On its first of multiple trips to CC Asheville, CC Philly installed an indoor shower at the church, something greatly needed and appreciated by future teams. During their week-long trips packed with projects helping local churches and property owners, they established lasting connections as well.
The Vessel God Uses
During a water break, Eliana-Joy struck up a conversation with homeowner Aaron, the father of teen twins, Haley and Leon. He expressed his gratitude for the help restoring his home, but his real concern was restoring his children’s well-being after years of horrendous abuse from their mother’s boyfriend. He explained how his daughter, Haley, who suffers from gender dysphoria, considers herself a male and wishes to be called ‘Rory.’ Just then, she came out of the house, and Eliana-Joy, led by the Spirit, introduced herself. “I said, ‘Your dad tells me you are into art. Could you tell me about it?’ She began to tell me how she got into art and about the medium she was using.” Seeing Haley’s positive response, Aaron suggested she take Eliana-Joy to her room to see more of her projects.
Karen Harrigan (pink jacket) and several other Calvary Chapel Philadelphia, PA, disaster relief team members mud-out a Driftwood Court home in Asheville before it is taken down to the studs in October 2024. Another CC Philly team would return in January 2025 to finish work on the same home.
While describing the different mediums she used, Haley explained that the masks represented various kinds of personas. Recalling a show from her childhood, it became clear to Eliana-Joy that these were Cipher symbols covering the walls. “When I asked what her inspiration for the art was, she said, ‘Oh, Bill [Cipher], the demon in the [Gravity Falls] show came to me in my dreams and told me to draw this and paint that,’” Eliana-Joy relayed.
During devotion time that evening at CC Asheville, Eliana-Joy shared a few details about Haley’s personal life and how she could relate to them after having experienced some of the same trauma. “Everyone prayed over that situation, and Pastor Billy [Osigian] said, ‘OK, Eliana-Joy, you are off the roof, and your main ministry is now this family!’ And that ended up being my mission,” she proclaimed.
Transforming Connections
Billy pointed out that at each location the relief teams are assigned, “we continue to reach out with the Gospel. We pray with people and ask them how they are doing. Even if [volunteers] can’t do anything at the job or there is not enough work, we encourage them to talk with the people, ask them their stories, ... and pray with them. That is where the real ‘rubber meets the road.’ We are making progress in their lives spiritually and in the lives of the team members.”
Outreach coordinator Krista Helman has organized mission trips at Cornerstone Chapel for five years. She has witnessed how God arranged just the right people for the teams since her first two trips. “God knew the twins’ deeper mental, spiritual, and emotional needs and sent these two 18-year-olds on our team to connect with them in a way that none of the adults on that team could have. Eliana-Joy taught the daughter fractions, how to play the guitar, and just fellowshipped ... it brought her out of her shell.”
Through Eliana-Joy's one-on-one ministry, she was able to call Haley by her given name at times. “I explained my beliefs, and she was OK with that. I was able to provide physical and spiritual light for her, and light in an educational sense also.” No stranger to spiritual warfare, Eliana-Joy admits she had not experienced a demonic presence to that degree before. “In ministry, you are a target. When you are actively fighting for the Lord, the enemy goes full on. God is light, and in His presence is joy and peace, but away from His presence is heaviness and discomfort—exactly what happened at that house.”
Thousands of volunteers have come alongside Calvary Chapel Asheville in Mills River, NC, as they respond to the needs of those affected by Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. Pastor Billy Osigian stated, “A lot has been done in nine months, but further out into the countryside or in the hills, there is still devastation in people’s homes.” To streamline efforts, an online form is available at CC Asheville’s website for those applying for assistance and for those who want to offer help.
In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. PSALM 16:11b
By the end of the week, Eliana-Joy and another teen volunteer, Matthew, were able to share the Gospel with the entire family, including Aaron’s friend, and left Bibles with Haley and Leon, who agreed to read them. “We have kept in touch with the family. Although I am excited to go back, I can’t help but have this sense of almost anticipated discomfort of being in the darkness again.” Eliana-Joy continued, “We have been praying for a transformation since we left.”
Acknowledging that the Lord has prepared the work for them, in partnership with CC Asheville, Assistant Pastor Mike Frick finds it pure joy to see how God uses these trips to transform the volunteers. “We come back to Cornerstone—and back to our homes—changed by the ministry that took place, the friendships formed, and the work completed. These changes have a ripple effect, inspiring our congregation to build one another up and put others before themselves, strengthening the church. Praise the Lord!”
Our Need—God's Supply
Four days into CC Asheville’s disaster relief efforts, Billy, overwhelmed, recounted, “I didn’t know what to do. People were showing up to get help. There was food everywhere, and everything you could imagine, from water to flashlights to medical equipment, was showing up on trucks and vehicles—people were just dropping stuff off.”
An elder who had been fielding non-stop phone calls admitted to Billy that he couldn’t keep up. Billy remembered telling him, “‘We need to ask God right now to send us somebody who has done this before, who has some idea and can give us direction.’ So, we stopped and prayed, and within 20-30 minutes, this family came walking in the door.”
In coordination with CC Asheville, relief-team volunteers from visiting churches help prepare nutritious meals for those who are helping in the response efforts.
Mike, his sister, and his father were with the Austin Disaster Relief Network. Billy said, “I asked what they did, and Mike told me he trains people to deal with disasters, sets up leadership teams, and organizes the efforts.” Stunned, Billy exclaimed to Mike, “You don’t understand, we literally just prayed asking specifically for that!”
But Mike topped that: “You don’t understand how God loves you! Five days ago, I was called to come. My sister, who goes to Calvary Chapel in Austin, said I needed to pack up and go to Asheville today—but I didn’t have time for that. The Lord wouldn’t let it go, so we left three days ago and came straight here.”
Now on track with a command infrastructure, Billy and his team, made up of several retired CC pastors, were better prepared to handle the needs of the community. Billy admitted, “I asked the Lord to help me trust Him as I let others handle responsibilities within their sphere while I dealt with bigger decisions. It was like Moses’ situation with his father-in-law. It was something I never had to do before, so I had to learn to trust God.”
For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself. ... Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as men who fear God, men of truth, and men who hate covetousness ... and let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. EXODUS 18:18b, 21a, & 22
Though small in number, these men and women that the Lord placed at CC Asheville for such a time as this continues to accomplish much. Billy divulged, “The Lord blessed us with organization and willing, gifted servants in our fellowship, who compliment and work in tandem with teams showing how the Lord multiplies our meager efforts in such overwhelming circumstances.”
Pointing out several in his church, Billy acknowledges it is their steadfast commitment that helps keep things flowing smoothly: “Zach Slates wrote the program that initialized jobs, volunteers, and organized acquisitions; his wife, Robin, and another volunteer, Laure Bowers, organized two 40-foot tents filled with donations of dry goods and clothes; and Corki Hall comes daily to work with food acquisition and distribution. Paul Hirsh and Jeff McElmurray faithfully lead teams to jobs, directing each day’s work and ministering to families.
During their October 2024 visit, a team from CC Philly organized CC Asheville's donation tents, getting goods off the ground and onto the shelving units they constructed.
One of our elders, Vince Anderson, matches jobs with volunteers; Pastor Allen Painter became the overseer, arriving each morning to ensure job distribution for each team; and Assistant Pastor Dave Vittum, who was a missionary, is there every evening leading devotions with teams and encouraging them to share testimonies of what they did and saw in the field. We even had a couple, Chris and Janira Felton, who came to Mills River two weeks before the storm for vacation and have remained to help oversee the kitchen and have acquired RVs for families who lost their homes and have no place to live.”
In the daily discipleship among the CC Asheville team and teams from other churches, Billy is heartened to see the joy and excitement in believers as they witness God’s interactive interventions in the lives of those they serve and their own.
Teams from Calvary Chapels, other churches, and organizations all over the U.S. have come to clean, build, repair, organize, restore, donate, and pray with people who have experienced tremendous loss. Billy even had an opportunity to pray with a non-practicing Jewish man with Bikes and Beards, a popular motorcycle channel with millions of worldwide YouTube viewers. “I asked him if he had ever read the Old Testament. He told me, ‘A little bit.’ I asked him to read Isaiah 53, and he said he would.”
The organization had raised over $300,000, all through viewership donations, and was delivering supplies to churches that were helping flood victims. When asked what was needed, Billy said, “I told them chainsaws, and they delivered 25 of them by the end of the day and a truckload of supplies. I still get text messages from them asking how things are going!”
Pastor Billy continues to monitor the needs of the community, the supply of materials, funds, and volunteers, as well as the health of the church body he pastors. “The Lord prepared us in advance to do these things. His Spirit is still moving and ministering amid what is going on.” Every three months, Billy and his leadership team pray and reassess the situation, determining their path forward. “Right now, we have 400-600 individuals coming monthly to get food, supplies, clothing—whatever they need. For a small church like ours, that is overwhelming. Were it not for the Lord’s supply, we could not do it.”
Restoring Community—and Faith
Stephen and Theresa Todd were one of 11 families who lost their house on Driftwood Court, a 16-home riverfront street in East Asheville. The well-established, idyllic community along the Swannanoa River was engulfed by the 40-foot river surge during the hurricane that washed away homes, leaving only foundations and towering piles of wreckage. The Todds were helping their neighbors clear debris when they bumped into the CC Philly disaster response team, who had been dispatched to mud-out and gut one of the remaining houses.
As a Christian, Stephen had been witnessing to his neighbors for years, praying for a breakthrough. Once he understood who the team was and their purpose, he rejoiced that the ‘Calvary’ [Calvary Chapels and other churches] had responded to the Lord’s call to come alongside the residents of Driftwood Court. Jose Ortiz, a member of the CC Philly team, asked Stephen what his goal was for his property. Jose recounted, “He told me he wanted to clear out the debris and plant grass and flowers to encourage his neighbors. That really touched me because he lost a lot—his retirement plan floated down the river—but he wanted to encourage them.”
Although some debris had been cleared prior to CC Philly’s arrival by the local government, an enormous task lay ahead. Working as one body, church groups from all over helped in the cleanup process. CC Philly even brought in heavy equipment on their second mission trip to Asheville to disperse the larger piles of debris. Jose stated, “The county offered that if we moved the piles to the property’s edge, they would remove them. The Lord gave us favor, so we didn’t have to haul that away.”
With the extent of the disaster, governmental and large-scale disaster relief organizations were inundated, delaying responses. Stephen shared that many in Western North Carolina feel forgotten, but “Christ’s church has not forgotten them. You look at our street, and you see how God can work with a relatively small number of people. He truly magnified and protected our efforts and kept the evil one away.”
A volunteer hauls dirt shoveled from around the foundation of a home.
The Driftwood community has witnessed faith in action, and many are coming to understand how, even amid such tragedy, the Lord truly loves them. Pedro, who has lived in the neighborhood for 12 years, commented, “Seeing my home and my neighbors’ homes destroyed by the rising water was very difficult to absorb. Seeing fellow human beings come in and just say, ‘We are here for you’ meant the world to us. Driftwood Court has been blessed by the Lord by letting us know that we are not alone even in the worst of times.”
Aware that CC Asheville has been operating non-stop since the onset of the disaster, a CC Philly volunteer observed, “It is a very small church. When CC Philly asks for volunteers, a hundred people respond, yet that church didn't have much more than 50 people on Sunday for service outside of visitors.” But Pastor Billy detects some church growth coming from these efforts, as several of those who have been helped are coming to CC Asheville, some even sharing their testimonies.
A mud-out is a lengthy, labor-intensive process that removes muddy, wet debris and contents destroyed by floodwaters before a home can be restored.
CC Philly brought in heavy equipment to remove trees and debris from the Driftwood Court neighborhood.
Jesse, a young man who survived the storm on his rooftop, had his entire house gutted and rebuilt by response teams from CC Asheville. “Helping mud-out and gut homes is a huge effort; it’s heavy-duty work in hot temperatures and tough conditions. Homeowners are astounded that we would do this work for them.” Chuckling, Jose continued, “We want to close the door and run, too, but Jesus doesn’t allow us to do that. We tell them that this is what Jesus wants us to do. They keep hearing that, and it is reaching their hearts—like Jesse, who came and shared his testimony. Although he had to leave early to go to work, he stayed for some of the service.”
Thankful that the Lord has given them favor in establishing relationships with the locals, Jose disclosed, “We share the Gospel with everyone, because you don’t know if you will have a recurring visit. And nine months later, the work has not subsided. I see the hand of God working right in front of my eyes, reaching into peoples’ lives. The Lord is working in this response, giving us believers and nonbelievers to walk alongside, to weep with those who weep, and mourn with those who mourn.”
Billy emphasized that the need is everywhere. “When it comes to right here in the States, you can just go right out your back door and minister. You don’t have to be a giant church; just focus on the task. So much can be accomplished—encouragement for the families receiving help as well as those who serve, who return home to look for ways to share the love of Jesus in their own communities.”
For more information on how to participate in CC Asheville's disaster relief efforts, click the link: calvarychapelasheville.org
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