North Carolina pastor details 'slow and painful' healing from Helene
'We're ministering to people who lost everything'
The pastor of a rural Baptist church in storm-ravaged western North Carolina told The Christian Post that residents continue to struggle months after Hurricane Helene, but Christians in the area have been given a unique opportunity to minister to their hurting neighbors.
"Obviously, healing comes from the Lord, and we're just trusting Him to provide that, but it's slow and painful at this particular juncture," said Todd Royal, who serves as pastor of Fairview Baptist Church. "But we do see the Lord working in a lot of different ways."
Founded in 1806, Fairview Baptist Church is the second-oldest church in Buncombe County, which bore the brunt of Hurricane Helene when it tore through western North Carolina last September, wiping entire communities off the map.
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Royal noted that approximately 100 homes were lost during the storm in the Fairview community, which is about 10 miles southeast of Asheville. The suburb made international headlines when 11 members of the same family perished in a mudslide, and Royal said portions of the community remain unrecognizably changed.
"We're ministering to people who lost everything," said Royal, whose church was among those that stepped up to aid in local relief efforts. He said helping people who lost their homes get set up with winterized campers has been a major priority, and he recounted how a single mother cried when they offered her help.
"She had bags of leaves up under the camper to kind of protect the pipes and the camper from the cold, and so she started crying when I told her we would come and provide some underpinning," he said. "She lost everything."
"So people are hurting immensely from the devastation and loss," Royal continued. "So in terms of the healing process, it's going to take years for many people. And of course, there's where the church steps up to try to be a source of love and pointing people to the Lord, because in Him we know that they'll find what they need."
Royal noted that the reputation of Christianity and the church in the predominantly liberal Asheville area has not been very positive, but said the storm has afforded him and other Christians a special opportunity to minister to their neighbors.
"Asheville has been a spiritual mess for years, and we've been praying for revival for the church," Royal said, adding there are about 400 churches in the area.
"We've been praying for the church to rise up and be the blessing that we're called to be, to love on Asheville, to try to reach Asheville with the love of the Lord, and this has given us a springboard to be able to do some of those things. And so, that's where the healing — the true healing — is going to come from."
He also noted non-Christian locals who have noticed the work Christians have been doing to help.
"The unbelieving eyes are seeing it; they've been impacted by it, and that's where we're grateful," he said. "We see some of the prayers that we've lifted up being answered, and so you can't help but be grateful for that. The darkness and the difficulty, I think, is a backdrop for us, just to be able to show and share the love and the light of the Lord."
When asked how he would respond to those who are angry at God for allowing catastrophes such as Helene to happen, Royal said, "I share the Gospel."
Royal suggested that anyone who harbors anger toward God fails to understand His character, explaining that even God's judgments are "always redemptive."
"You take folks to the cross," he said of those who are suffering. "There have been many times in my life and my ministry where I'd say, 'Lord, there's got to be another way.' But He always shows me the cross."
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
