Two mothers praise God for the campers Samaritan’s Purse provided after Hurricane Helene left them homeless.
Since Hurricane Helene upended her life, Tammy has been living in the carport outside her sister’s house in the rural mountains of North Carolina. The tin and metal frame, asphalt floor, and flimsy insulation do little to hold the warmth from the small space heaters Tammy bought. As temperatures have dropped well below freezing in recent months, she often falls asleep shivering.
Ankle-deep floodwaters were common in her mobile home park near the creek, Tammy said, but nothing compared to the devastation caused by Helene. She escaped just in time before flashfloods roared through her neighborhood, wiping out every home in the area. Tammy lost everything, but the weeks and months that followed only amplified the stress and trauma she experienced that late September morning.
“I was about to give up,” said Tammy, her shoulders shrugged and tears streaming down her face. But everything changed when she received a call from Samaritan’s Purse, pledging to supply her with a new camper free of charge.
As the 29-foot camper rolled into her sister’s driveway, Tammy was overwhelmed.
Tammy won’t have to worry about shivering through nights again living in her new camper.
“God’s here,” she said. “We just kept praying and praying because we knew something good was going to happen. It was so hard in the beginning, but I know that without Him, I wouldn’t have made it as far as I did.”
Joining Tammy in her new trailer is Daniel, a young man with severe autism who also lost his house in the storm. Tammy took Daniel under her care two years ago after his father passed away. Though some days can be challenging, it was Daniel who encouraged her these last few months.
Before Tammy stepped into her camper, Samaritan’s Purse staff prayed over her and shared that the Lord is with her, even in the midst of chaos.
“God is with us not just in the physical storms, but also the emotional and spiritual storms,” said Steve McPheters, a Disaster Assistance Response Team member with Samaritan’s Purse. “If we’re having problems with our families, our friends, our work, or wherever else, we can go to this book”—pointing to the Billy Graham Training Center Bible in his hand— “and we can find all the answers.”
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
Unexpected Blessings
Teresa Reyes, an El Salvadoran mother of three, also shed tears as her new camper arrived. She was not home the morning Helene struck, but hours later she saw a video on social media of her red-roofed mobile home dissolving into debris from the floodwaters. Everything she, a housekeeper, and her husband, a tow-truck operator, had worked hard for was gone before they could get home.
Anxiety had consumed her for months, but as she walked through her new camper, she felt the weight lifted off her shoulders.
“God has shown [us] that we are vulnerable without Him,” Teresa said. “It has made us think, ‘What do we really value?’ The storm has made me realize that when we have everything in life, we are blinded to the many blessings God has given us.”
After months of uncertainty, Teresa, her husband, and their 17-year-old daughter have a new home and a restored hope.
Through the suffering of the storm, God brought the Reyes family closer together and strengthened their faith. Now they go to church as a family and pray together regularly.
As families across the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee continue to face challenges in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Samaritan’s Purse is committed to find and meet needs in Jesus’ Name. We are providing campers, vehicles, appliances, grocery store gift cards, Bibles, and more—all the while sharing the eternal hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Please pray for wisdom and strength for our teams as they serve throughout the region.
“They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
