From Devastation to Restoration: A Journey of Hope
This story about Calvary Chapel relief teams assisting in western North Carolina after hurricane Helene in late September 2024 was first published in Issue 102, Winter 2025. For more information about receiving our print issues, which contain new stories each quarter, email us at contact@calvarymagazine.org.
Following hurricane Helene in late September 2024, a watery torrent ravaged western North Carolina, obliterating towns, communities, and neighborhoods.
Volunteers from CC Asheville, NC, minister to the heartbroken suffering loss from the destruction of Helene. David Vittum (center), a retired U.S. submarine captain, gathers supplies ranging from food, clothing, and basic survival needs for those affected.
They came with tractors and case loaders filled with chainsaws, food, … clothing, … water—the teams came with everything you can imagine.” Choking through tears, Calvary Chapel Asheville, North Carolina, Pastor Billy Osigian described how groups from Calvary Chapels from across the country arrived to help in the aftermath of hurricane Helene.
“They came with broken hearts, but glad hearts in the sense that they couldn’t wait to give us a hug and fill up our fellowship hall with food, water, and these things they had brought—and then said, ‘Come on, let’s go find some place to help. Where do you want us to go?’”
As the storm waters receded, vehicles—previously carried away and submerged in the deluge—were left tangled in trees and along embankments.
After hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, a woman seeks help amid the wreckage. Pastor Billy Osigian of CC Asheville prays with her, offering comfort and hope in her time of need.
The day prior to their arrival, Billy had received a call from CC Stone Mountain, GA, Pastor Sandy Adams, checking on him and his congregation. “I didn’t realize how much stress I was under until I got a call from Sandy asking how I was doing. I said, ‘I’m good.’” Billy stammered, as he was overtaken with emotion. “I realized I don’t know how we are doing.” As the Calvary Chapel Association Deep South regional leader, Sandy coordinated hurricane Helene relief efforts between CCs wanting to help those in affected areas, stating, “Calvary Chapels in the Deep South region are helping in practical ways and sharing the love of Jesus.”
Hurricane Helene landed in Florida on Thursday, September 26th, travelling through parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and then quickly through eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and parts of southern Virginia. It dumped 40 trillion tons of rain over western North Carolina, causing record flooding and over 400 landslides in numerous mountainside towns, wiping some out entirely.
Reagan Sanders (left) and Scott Boscun (right) of Calvary Disaster Relief (CDR) carry loads of water-damaged belongings from a flooded basement. CDR is a ministry based out of CC La Habra, CA.
Surveying the destruction the morning after, Pastor Billy was dumbfounded by its enormity. Just a mile from his home, the Swannanoa River, normally 1-2 feet deep and roughly 30 feet wide, had overtaken historic Biltmore Village in Asheville. “The water came some 30 feet above its banks, about a quarter-mile wide. Everything in its way was swept away or torn up. As it picked up other items, they became battering rams, hitting things and taking them down,” he recounted. Massive pine and oak trees that were uprooted or twisted in half, along with broken utility poles and powerlines, blocked roads, confining many people to their neighborhoods.
Unable to contact his family and children that first day, Billy became concerned. The people he was able to reach described the devastation around them. He realized he needed to do something to help. He and his wife, Fran, attempted the 10-mile drive to church to check for power or communications. “We couldn’t get through. The river was over the bridge, so they blocked it off.”
Emily Hebner, a volunteer on the CC Lake Norman, NC, team, disposes of ruined flooring from the wrecked remains of homes.
Feeling defeated, thinking they couldn’t help anyone right now, they returned home and began checking on their neighbors. “We started just giving whatever we had and sat with them, sharing with and encouraging one another. Everybody I could contact was OK, but there were so many I hadn’t contacted. I didn’t know how to get a hold of them, and I knew we needed to get something done. I just didn’t know what to do.”
The next day, after the water had receded, they were able to get to the church building—only to find there was no power. Fortunately, as people were responding via text messaging that they were OK, they shared a similar theme. Billy explained, “We found out all of them had the same ‘almost’ story. The tree ‘almost’ hit the house, the tree ‘almost’ destroyed the whatever, or the water ‘almost’ took the house away. We were just amazed at all the ‘almosts’ there were.”
Farther out in the hill country, however, the stories became bleaker. Billy relayed, “There, it wasn’t an ‘almost’. The house is gone. The family’s gone and they don’t even know where they are. The school is gone. The city is gone. The entire business district is gone.”
Billy and Fran looked at each other and exclaimed, “We have to open the church. We have to do what we can!” Soon the calls came pouring in. “Once Pastor Sandy put an APB out to all the Calvary Chapels in the U.S., my phone has not stopped ringing,” Billy remarked. Pastors, mission leaders, and relief teams were calling to send teams. “Some are sending them right away. Others are waiting, saying, ‘We’re going to come when the teams get low, … to come repair and rebuild,” he reported.
A Combined Relief Effort
The teams immediately began to roll in, often staying at the church. Among the churches assisting early on were Calvary Chapels from Lockhart, TX; Lake Norman, NC; Lynchburg, VA; Knoxville and Johnson City, TN; Philadelphia and Russell, PA; La Habra, CA; and Fort Mill, SC.
The first stop for the team from CC Lake Norman was the home of Pastor Billy’s secretary, who lives in a cove, or “holler”. He described the damage: “Trees literally surround her house. Twelve large pine trees and three oak trees went down; none of them hit the house until that last one. It landed right on the chimney, which stopped [further damage]. Had it not hit the chimney, it would have split that house in half and probably killed her and her husband.” The team cut the tree off the house and opened the property. “They worked all day. They were strong guys and just gave it their all. They didn’t want to stop.”
Paul Hirsch (center) coordinates teams, volunteers, and locations to help victims of the natural disaster. Calvary Chapel volunteers approach him as the contact while he organizes the outreaches, reminding them that they are the hands and feet of Jesus.
Up to nine teams came the first week. They started the church’s generator, which charged up the water and electricity needed to help the community and volunteers. CC Lynchburg sent two large tents to house more people and allow for cookouts. “Calvary Relief brought in a chef to cook for volunteers in the evenings. We’re now set up for teams of 30 at a time,” Pastor Billy explained.
He reflected, “It’s going like gangbusters. People have been coming in off the streets getting food, clothing, diapers, wipes, and baby formula. I contacted the assistant fire chief and police chief, and they have been letting people know we’re open and available, with teams to go out.” As they serve, the teams are also caring for the devastated community. “They’re saying, ‘What can we do to help?’ They just have the heart of the Lord, the Spirit of God.”
A 15-member team from CC Lockhart drove 23½ hours from Texas to work as volunteers. Belar Sneed (left), Thomas Trejo (center), and Pastor Pete Arcineaga (right) remove flooring in Asheville.
Aaron Fisher joins the relief team of CC Asheville doing the dirty work of mucking out homes and getting them ready for repair.
Responding in the Mountains
Teams headed to some of the hardest-hit areas around Asheville, areas difficult to reach now because of record flooding and deadly mudslides. An elder at CC Asheville, Gary Marlow and his wife Theresa, live in Nesbitt Chapel, between Black Mountain and Fairview, a winding trip through the mountains, according to Billy. He recounted, “They told the team, ‘You see that house across the street? There used to be two houses there, and that one, we don’t even know where it came from. It wasn’t there before the flooding and mudslides. The other two houses were washed away.’”
Lance Pangborn of CC Russell, PA, crawls underneath a ruined house foundation as he clears out wet insulation and destroyed AC duct work.
Gary said that during the hurricane, it went from not having water even across his driveway to water coming out of nowhere. “All of a sudden, we saw cars and homes floating down. Two bodies were found just across from us, lodged in the debris. There was nothing we could do. But the Lord protected us through that time.” With communication absent and the power out, their community responded in unity, Gary said. “This made everybody start interacting. So the good that came out of the storm was that it brought the neighborhood closer together.”
God’s Hand in the Storm
For the first three days after the hurricane, Billy admitted that he and his wife spent much time weeping “because of the pain we’re seeing, but also because of the kindness and generosity people are sharing.” Billy noted that the disaster has forced his congregation to “detox” from phones, TV, the internet, and news media.
Looking beyond the horror of the devastation, and the many deaths and still-missing people, Billy asked his church, If you had a chance, would you turn the storm back? How has God used this in your life? Has it changed your perspective to give you an eternal view? He answered for himself: “I can say that I’m thankful. I know that the enemy meant it for evil. Scriptures tell us that suffering is something God uses in our lives. The storm has changed our lives for the better. Yes, we’ve lost property. And those who’ve died, the Lord is able to deal with those issues—I’m not. I know that the Lord is sovereign. But I know that my life, in the core of my heart, has been changed.”
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
“He Saw Me Through the Storm”
“It was raining so hard. The creek started getting up in front of the house. The little creek coming up behind the house, split at the back of the house and was coming down both sides,” explained Diane Laws of Burnsville, NC. “Water got up really, really close to the house. It never got in the living quarters, but it was in the basement.” She and her husband, Louis, have lived in that home for 44 years.
“We had a deep freezer full of food. It literally flipped upside down,” Diane recalled. Canned goods, representing hundreds of hours of work—from planting to canning—were destroyed. A massive tree fell during the storm but didn’t damage their home. “I know that God directed it the way He wanted it to fall so that it didn’t hit us.”
Eddie Connor and Preston Wilson (full beard) of CC Lake Norman show the love of Christ to neighbors who were affected by the hurricane by clearing off trees that collapsed on houses.
A neighbor’s double-wide trailer was washed away, as was their road. Yet the heartbreak continued, Diane shared: “My nephew and his wife lived in Relief, NC. I’m not sure what happened, but they also got washed away. His body ended up in Tennessee, and they haven’t yet recovered her body.”
Despite the deep pain, Diane noted, her voice breaking, “People have been so kind. People from Calvary Chapel came and have worked tirelessly cleaning out my basement. They will always be in my heart.” All of their meat had spoiled—the smell was emanating throughout their house. “The CC guys came alongside. They got all of that rank meat out of the basement.”
Diane continued, “We were so scared in the house, but most of all, I know that the Lord had His arms wrapped around us, protecting us because that is the only way we survived. I don’t think I could live without Him—I know I couldn’t. He saw me through the storm.”
In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. Psalm 31:1-2
Jeff McElmurry of CC Asheville converses with Diane Laws over the damage of her flooded basement and the traumatic loss of her nephew and his wife who were snatched away by the flood. Her nephew’s body was found days later 170 miles away in Tennessee, and his wife remains missing.
“My nephew and his wife … got washed away. His body ended up in Tennessee.”
A Whisper from Dying
Valerie Ehlinger and her son, Zion, found themselves and several pets trapped as flood waters rapidly filled their historic home in Beacon Village in Swannanoa, NC. “Furniture was floating, crashing all over the house. It was freezing cold.” Valerie’s dogs, Waylon and Maggie, her cat, and a pet reptile in an aquarium were trapped as well. Because the biometric locks were wet, she couldn’t open her house doors, and the only way out was through a living room window. “I busted out the top pane as high up as I could get it, got on the couch, grabbed the windowsill, floated my feet through, and stood on the ledge.” She struggled to pull her dog Maggie through the window. The other dog, Waylon, was frantic and impossible to wrangle to safety.
So Valerie made the hardest call of her life. She exhorted her son, “You are going to have to leave everybody behind and save yourself, or you are going to die!” Zion swam to the window, now underwater, and out the broken pane. Even on the roof, they tried to pull Maggie out of the water, but her collar came off, as she was torn away.
Valerie Ehlinger and her son, Zion, mourn the loss of their hometown, Swannanoa, NC. Days earlier, they were forced to climb out of a window to their roof as the house flooded. After the horrific event of watching one dog be swept away with the current, and the other trapped in the house, they lost hope of seeing them again. Valerie and Zion were grateful to recover both of them alive.
“I sat there crying. I had to leave my pets inside the house to die.”
“I sat there crying. I had to leave my pets inside the house to die. The dog I was able to save floated away and was gone. My house, truck—gone. The only thing I was able to save was my son, who was sitting on the roof with me. We sat there for hours, waiting for someone to come.” Helicopters flying over didn’t respond.
“All of a sudden, one of our neighbors, John Arndt, floated down in a kayak and saved every single person on their roofs up and down this road,” Valerie exclaimed emotionally. He delivered Valerie and Zion, left with nothing but what was on their bodies, to separate embankments. A neighbor on higher ground took them to her house. Several hours later that day, they learned that Maggie and Waylon had survived, and they were reunited. John went back to retrieve Waylon, and found him, the cat, and the reptile all alive. “It was the biggest miracle. All of us were a whisper from dying,” Valerie said.
Fernando Rivera (left) and Johnny Htooson (right) were among a number of young adults who gave of their time to serve the Lord by clearing out debris from damaged homes.
The unexpected intensity of the storm that surged through the valley left locals thankful for CC Lockhart’s team, as Thomas Trejo diligently works with his hands removing decayed flooring. Residents were amazed by the willingness of the many different Calvary Chapel teams helping in their time of need.
Unexpectedly Trapped
“There is no safe way out,” Treneka Gross and her five female housemates were repeatedly warned in Swannanoa, following the horrific flooding. Treneka, a longtime member of Calvary Chapel Fredericksburg, VA, was in the western North Carolina mountains for a Christian singles retreat at nearby Black Mountain. Aware of heavy rain and anticipating a power outage, they went to sleep at their Airbnb in Swannanoa. They woke up to face the devastation of an angry hurricane—with no way out of the town for days. At first strangers, she and her friends soon became a part of this small, overwhelmed community.
Outside, Treneka witnessed the aftermath. Not far from the house, she saw the water. “Down the street, I saw shipping containers, cars, and houses floating by.” Further down at the water line, Treneka saw a man, alive but hanging in a tree, dressed only in a T-shirt. Before his house collapsed, he fled to his roof and then into the tree. At another house, flooded almost to the roof, a family was trying to get onto a floating device. “I could hear people yelling for help,” she remembered.
A Flood of Neighborly Care
They met 70-year-old Ed, who offered them any help they needed. “Ed would come to check on us every morning,” Treneka recalled with grateful tears. Neighbors dropped off food and snacks; one, who raised chickens, offered free eggs. “Through the neighbors, the Lord just kept providing.” She reflected on the community spirit in this town temporarily inaccessible to the outside world. “We saw such extreme kindness and brotherly love. There was no running water or electricity, but they really came together.”
He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night … nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. Psalm 91:4-6
The CC Lake Norman team starts the morning off with a time of prayer in a home impacted by the tragedy before beginning their day of relief work. This North Carolina church responded almost immediately to help CC Asheville meet the needs of the community.
Ari Aleong from CC La Habra traveled from California to help victims of the hurricane with the CDR team. Ari worked in the same flooded basement for three days, getting rid of rancid meat and mucking out foul mud and water until the job was complete.
He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night … nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. Psalm 91:4-6
The next day, the women joined Ed’s debris-clearing team. On one road, the team was clearing brush and trees when they heard a lady’s voice call out, “Who is that?” Behind the trees was a home, and the owners expressed their gratitude for the help. While talking with them, a family member, Leslie, arrived, upset because she hadn’t heard from her daughter Aurora, a young adult, since Wednesday,” Treneka observed.
Treneka responded, “Leslie, can we pray for you right now? God sees your daughter; He has eyes on her.” The tree-hauling team gathered around her. “We prayed for protection, safety, that the Lord would open some way for them to connect with her and know she’s OK.” Grateful, Leslie left to keep searching. For the next 10 minutes, the team continued clearing. Then Ed saw a young woman walking down the road and called out, “Are you Aurora?” When she responded, Yes, he told her excitedly, “Get over here! We were just praying for your life!” Treneka and Ed broke into a dance, exclaiming, “Yes, God!” Leaving Swannanoa, Treneka recalled a Scripture—“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27a). “I just pictured a strong tower and His arms under my arms. It was the Lord holding us up in this place.”
Calvary Chapel relief workers responded to needs in several towns in western North Carolina.
Gary Marlow, an elder at CC Asheville, and his wife, Theresa, had watched in disbelief days before as two homes below them on the mountain washed away in the flood while another ended up at that same spot.
Surging flood waters wiped out parking lots, roads, and buildings, taking vehicles and telephone poles and wires in its powerful current.
Pastor Billy Osigian preaches after the flood as congregants of CC Asheville meet and continue to praise the Lord.
Click here to watch Pastor Billy Osigian’s testimony, CC Asheville, NC
This story was first published in Issue 102, Winter 2025. For more information about receiving our print issues, which contain new stories each quarter, email us at contact@calvarymagazine.org.
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