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By Brent Rinehart –
“You learn to trust Him in the trials.”
That’s the message posted on the marquee outside of Reece’s Chapel Baptist Church in the Mill Creek community of Newport, North Carolina.
The people of Mill Creek have experienced no shortage of trials lately, to put it mildly. Many lost everything in Hurricane Florence. And, now they face a potentially contaminated water supply. Some residents have well water, but many are waiting for the local Health Department to come give them the clear.
In the meantime, it’s hard for them to cook without usable water.
“We just got lights three days ago. Now, it’s the water supply,” said Susan Wade, a member of the church who reached out to The Salvation Army for help.
Since learning of the challenges facing this community, a Salvation Army crew has dropped off food daily, and Wade and other volunteers have delivered it around to those unable to get out. This includes Wade’s neighbors who are disabled or shut-in.
This is nothing unusual for Wade. The church has an outreach ministry year-round that provides meals to many in the community. But, with the hurricane and subsequent issues, it eventually become too much for the church to bear on its own.
It’s been a long road for people in this community, and it began well over a week ago. She, and about 45 church and community members, rode out the storm inside the church’s fellowship hall. While the wind whipped around them and tornadoes spun out of the hurricane, the people of Mill Creek had a safe shelter. The church building served as home for people from four weeks old to 87 years.
“We had angel wings around us,” Wade said with a smile. “In fact, the church’s steeple was crooked before the storm, and the wind actually knocked it straight.”
Some weathered the storm with minimal damage to their homes. Others weren’t as fortunate.
“Many people here have lost everything,” Wade said. “Their houses are crumbling beneath them.”
Residents here now face the question of “what’s next?” But, thanks to The Salvation Army, Susan Wade and Reece’s Chapel Baptist Church, they don’t have to question where their next meal is coming from. Today, it was honeybaked ham sandwiches provided by the local Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary of Carteret County.
You learn to trust God in the trials. Yes, the people of Mill Creek are facing trials, but through them they are also leaning on God.
“The good Lord is providing for them,” Wade said. “You just don’t know how much everyone in Mill Creek appreciates what The Salvation Army is doing.”
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