Hurricane-weary residents of Marshall, North Carolina, experienced the love of Christ as we provided medical, dental, and vision services free of charge.
“Do I eat or do I go to the doctor?”
Samaritan’s Purse physician Elliott Tenpenny explained the dilemma that many people face in communities hit hard by Hurricane Helene. The already medically underserved town of Marshall, North Carolina, was devastated during Helene when the French Broad River overflowed its banks. The September storm flooded homes and businesses alike.
To help the struggling community on its road to recovery, Samaritan’s Purse hosted a community medical outreach at Madison Early College High School on March 15, providing medical, dental, and vision care free of charge while also sharing the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The staff of the community medical outreach checked every patient’s blood pressure when they arrived.
Mark Treadway hadn’t visited a dentist since 2001. The resident of Alexander, North Carolina, roughly 20 miles from Marshall, had watched the first floor of his home fill with water from Helene. Currently he’s living in a camper provided by the Federal Emergency Management Association. As he waited to have two teeth pulled, he expressed his gratitude to Samaritan’s Purse.
Mark Treadway said, “It’s nice to have these clinics where you go in and you don’t have to worry about a big bill at the end of the month.”
Dentist Kevin Van Asch was one of the providers volunteering his time to serve people like Mark. Dr. Van Asch’s dental office in Marshall was located right on the river, so when forecasts said Helene was headed for them, he and the staff of 30-plus years moved supplies from the basement to the first floor. But sadly, very few of his dental instruments were spared when the water rose six feet above that level.
If you saw their office now, you would see a building gutted to the brick and studs. Though it had been damaged significantly inside, the office was, thankfully, deemed structurally sound enough to rebuild. Now, as the dental team works to find a contractor to begin the necessary repairs, they are still able to see and treat patients using extra space at a neighboring dental facility.
Van Asch is using this opportunity in the interim to volunteer his expertise for treating the struggling people in and around Marshall.
Kevin Van Asch (right) provides dental care to a patient.
“Anything I can do to serve this community,” Van Asch said of his decision to volunteer at our medical outreach. “I know there’s not enough dentists to reach this community. This gives me an opportunity to reach out to some people we might not be able to fit into our schedules in the office.”
God Is Still With Us
Ata Luna traveled over 30 miles from Swannanoa for dental and vision care. With all the businesses near Asheville that were devastated by Helene, he said, “It takes over a year to get an appointment for a cleaning.”
He normally wears contact lenses, so he was grateful to pick out a pair of frames at the community medical outreach and have the lenses made on site while he waited. He said the new eyeglasses would give his vision “a rest” and help prevent infection.
A Samaritan’s Purse volunteer from Minnesota fits a patient with a new pair of eyeglasses while Ata Luna (right) looks on with admiration.
“I feel the love of God manifested in these people,” Luna said. “Every person helping here is proof that God still loves humanity.”
Luna had earlier received a refrigerator from our Disaster Assistance Response Team when his had shorted out due to the power surges. He was doubly grateful now to also be receiving medical care from Samaritan’s Purse.
“God is still with us,” he said. “He will never forget us. He always sends angels like these people. That’s the power of God and the power of His love.”
Amor en acción
When Samaritan’s Purse staff arrived at 4:30 the morning of our community medical outreach, there was already a line forming. This included Kateryna and Sergii Stanislavchuk who fled their home and war-torn Ukraine on August 31, 2024. Most recently they settled in Candler, North Carolina—about 40 miles outside of Marshall.
Kateryna (center) received a brand-new pair of eyeglasses in a frame she picked out herself.
In comparison to what they had left behind in a war zone, Sergii said, Hurricane Helene was “not very terrible for us.” They were already used to the loss of power and water. When they experienced those issues in the United States, they were prepared to endure them. He laughed off the fact that he had to sleep in his car in a supermarket parking lot, unable to make it back to their apartment due to the flooding.
“It’s a miracle to get our teeth cleaned,” Kateryna said. “For us this is very important to see this love in action.”
A total of 59 patients had dental work done at the community medical outreach.
After her cleaning, Kateryna’s eyes were tested for color vision, depth perception, and just the right prescription lenses. She beamed as she saw herself in the mirror in her brand-new pair of glasses.
Struck Down but Still Serving
These blessings and the glimpses of God’s love through medical care have been a powerful testimony to the faithfulness of local churches serving with us as they face their own struggles. Our lead partner church, First Baptist Church of Marshall, suffered flooding that ruined floors, walls, and valuable audiovisual equipment. Though they have only just recently resumed meeting in their building, their ministry didn’t stop after the storm. Instead, they have sought to be the hands and feet of Jesus to their town.
“Our church over the last five and a half months has had two arms,” said Pastor Dusty Black. “One was trying to rebuild where we’re at downtown, but the second was ministry—and we’ve had members constantly in the community.”
A chaplain talks with a patient as they await medical care.
When Samaritan’s Purse first contacted the church about becoming a partner in the community medical outreach, Black said, “I love it, but I can’t be in charge of it. There’s too much going on right now. Other people in the church and community stepped up, including our French Broad Baptist Association.” Together, this network of 52 churches supplied volunteers, food, and the logistical support in coordination with the local high school.
“As a pastor, I really appreciate being able to come and just be a volunteer and serve in this way,” Black said. “To partner with Samaritan’s Purse, we know that the Gospel is going to be shared and that Jesus is really behind everything we’re doing. It makes us feel confident because we know that there’s an eternal significance to this as well.”
Eighteen patients who attended the clinic had medical visits.
In addition to the local pastors on the volunteer ministry team, Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains were also on site to pray and talk with patients.
In one day, this community medical outreach served 117 patients through the work of 75 volunteers from nine states. More than half of these volunteers were from Madison and Buncombe County churches.
“Over the years we’ve learned a tremendous amount to deploy medical capacity internationally through our Emergency Field Hospitals.” Tenpenny said. “Now we’ve taken that mindset and that ability to utilize supplies, to utilize equipment, bringing it right here at home in North Carolina where folks have experienced a devastating hurricane over the last few months. It’s a way of using what we know and applying it in a new setting to reach people with the love of Christ.”
