Samaritan’s Purse continues to provide new mobile homes for residents of western North Carolina, men and women who suffered incredible loss during Hurricane Helene.
Ronnie and Ginny Meadows’ mobile home in western North Carolina, was washed away by Hurricane Helene. It was the only home they had lived in during their married life—49 years and still counting.
“We’ve been flooded a hundred times,” Ronnie said, noting that their former home stood on the street where he grew up. “But at 2 p.m [the day Helene struck], the fire department came down and they couldn’t get to us.” The water had already risen above their bridge. That was when the couple started to realize they might need to find a safer area to wait out the storm. So, they drove to stay the night with their son and his family several miles away.
They never saw their house again. It was completely destroyed in the storm. The family escaped with only “the clothes on our back,” Ginny said.
Samaritan’s Purse found the couple as our staff and volunteers were canvassing neighborhoods that suffered extensive damage from the hurricane. At first, Ronnie and Ginny intended to place a new mobile home where the old one had been before the storm, but in light of how often the area flooded, they began to look for somewhere else to build. Their son, Shane, a pastor in the area, offered a part of his property in Leicester, Buncombe County, to his parents. Samaritan’s Purse soon began work on the site.
The new house overlooks the beautiful Appalachian Mountains from a vantage point at the top of a hill. “No rivers up here,” Ginny commented. Here they would be safe from the regular flooding they had endured for almost half a century at their old property. During the time that Samaritan’s Purse was preparing the mobile home, God also provided a rental in a neighborhood nearby where the Meadows family could live peacefully while their house was being built.
A ‘Welcome Home’ sign hangs on the Meadows’ new front porch.
Sounds of Praise
Although the hurricane forced the couple to start over in many ways, they have seen God’s faithfulness in providing them with a new home from Samaritan’s Purse. At the dedication in late July, they talked about how they have both seen great unity among our staff and volunteers—unity that expressed itself as God’s care for them through our love and service.
During the dedication event, the couple was presented with their own set of keys to the new home, a Bible signed by the volunteers who worked on it, and a “PAID IN FULL” sign noting that all the expenses had been covered. This is a reminder that Christ’s blood covers our sin, and He freely saves all who repent and believe in Him. Kevin Mitschelen presented Ronnie and Ginny with the keys, showing them the grooves on the top, as well as the straight line that ran along the base of each key.
He used the outline of the key as an analogy for life: there are highs that we go through as well as lows, represented by the ups and downs along every unique key, he explained. “God is God, in the midst of life,” he said. “That straight line is Jesus Christ, that He’s our rock. He’s who we put everything on. And He is not the sinking sand of this world, but He’s the rock.”
Ronnie and Ginny laugh with family and Samaritan’s Purse staff during the dedication ceremony.
The couple teared up throughout the different parts of the ceremony, touched by the kindness of Samaritan’s Purse staff and volunteers. “He has sent above and beyond,” Ginny said, referring to the Lord. “There’s been days when I couldn’t walk and He carried me.” Both Ronnie and Ginny thanked each of the staff and volunteers over the course of the day.
The dedication closed with a hymn led by the couple’s daughter-in-law, Cindy. Everyone joined in the song, and the new mobile home was filled with the sounds of praise and worship: “Jesus’ face will always shine, for He is all the light I’ll ever need.”
The couple now has a view of the Appalachian Mountains from their front porch.
