BOONE, NORTH CAROLINA — Hurricane Helene brought devastating floods that caused many people to evacuate their homes, not knowing if they would still have a place to live after the storm. The damage left many North Carolina families in disbelief and disorder, however the volunteers of Samaritan’s Purse were the first people to come in and bring peace to the place they call home in it’s toughest time of need.

Jordan Roten – Homeowner:

The creek behind us just rose higher than it’s ever come up before. It was rushing water.

Monnie Roten – Homeowner:

Houses above us were taken off the foundations. I’ve been here for over 50 years, but this was quite devastating.

Jordan:

Our neighbors have a ten day old newborn. We were able to hold them up over our heads and pass all the children down. Got them into the vehicle so we could evacuate. As we were driving out, we saw trees coming down. Just praying that we could go through with our vehicles and get up to safety.

Edward Graham – COO Samaritan’s Purse:

When this hurricane hit, Samaritan’s Purse already began posturing equipment, and we were getting ready, but we weren’t quite sure it was going to hit. Here in Boone, North Carolina, our hometown. This is personal to Samaritan’s Purse because we have lost so much here.

As I look around, we’ve got a lot of lost. We got a lot of destruction. People that have lost everything. The most important thing we do is to love our neighbor in the name of Jesus Christ, and to bring hope where they may not have any hope.

Monnie:

When I saw those orange shirts coming to the property, I really hadn’t cried until I saw one step of that truck. The love and the compassion, the care and the concern with everything they did was just amazing. I never experienced God’s love like that.

Rachel Kimak – Samaritan’s Purse:

You never think that a disaster is going to happen in your area, and to be able to have them accept help from friends and coworkers in a crisis like this has just been one of the most amazing blessings, just to be able to serve one another and love each other through that service.

Jordan:

It’s really hard to put into words, even what it means to have a family of Samaritan’s Purse rally around us right now. I express the deepest thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you guys showed up in the middle of one of the hardest things we’ve ever gone through, and that you love us so well with the love of Jesus.

That’s what you brought. And you know, we’re not even crying because of what we lost. But as my mother in law says, we’re crying because love showed up.

Monnie:

Your literally God’s love that showed up on the property. So I thank you all our hearts like never before. Samaritan’s purse has shown the face, the hands and the feet of Jesus.

And you can’t put a price on that. There’s no way to say thank you enough. It was truly amazing.

Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet the needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the Church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Samaritan’s Purse International Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) program is committed to meeting the critical needs of victims of war, poverty, famine, disease, and natural disaster. We stand ready to respond at a moment’s notice whenever and wherever disaster strikes. The DART specializes in providing water, food, shelter, and medical care while sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

CONTACT: Gabrielle Bouquet, news@samaritan.org

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