Thursday night, Sept. 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm, with winds and gusts that made it the strongest hurricane to ever hit Florida’s Big Bend. However, the effects were felt in states as far away as Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Flooding and power outages have trapped many people, cutting them off from access to food, water and other essentials. More than 200 people have died, and many people are still missing.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Kenneth Copeland Ministries called Partners and Friends in the affected areas to check on them and to see what help they need. Because several states have been impacted and electricity/communication is still spotty, this effort will be ongoing. We have already identified over 2,000 Partners affected, and have deployed a small relief team to the area to survey how best to help.
Staging out of Covenant Church in Valdosta, Ga., they met with over 90 Partners who miraculously suffered minimal damage, mostly to trees. They unloaded three semitrucks of supplies and delivered food to people in their homes. They saw 27 salvations and multiple healings!
One Partner church had been without power for two weeks. Pastor Terri Copeland Pearsons had given direction that “if a church is down, get it running because it sets the spiritual tone of the area.” After our aid and support, they had service Oct. 13!
Reaching out to North Carolina
The week of Oct 14, our Relief Team moved north and staged out of Asheville, N.C. As of Oct 20, 75% of the people in the Ashville area still do not have access to water. The KCM team checked on 42 Partners, sometimes taking an hour-long, one-way trek to cut-off areas of North Carolina. They heard so many testimonies! One was Larissa, a Partner whose home was in one of the areas most affected by the hurricane. During the storm, she prayed and held onto the prayers of EMIC and KCM. After the storm passed, despite her neighbors suffering severe damage to their houses, her home was completely untouched!
Of the 42 Partners we checked on in the direct path near Asheville, only one experienced any damage. Marlin called the prayer line to say his home had been destroyed, leaving him homeless with a broken wrist and ankle. Despite having outdated phone and home addresses, the team researched until they located him. This Vietnam veteran, who has been a Partner since the ’70s, has been given shelter and clothing, and we are committed to helping his recovery!
The next stop will be Eastern Florida, to help Partners who were affected by Hurricane Milton; updates will be coming in the next week about that trip. KCM continues to support Hurricane Helene relief efforts through Operation Blessing, Samaritan’s Purse and Mercy Chefs in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. This will continue as people work to reclaim and restore what was damaged.
Because of your faithful support
Because of your faithful support to this ministry, we have also partnered with Samaritan’s Purse, Mercy Chefs and Operation Blessing. Ten percent of all donations received at KCM are sown directly into other ministries like Operation Blessing. We call it twice-sown seed! Right now, Operation Blessing is deployed in both Georgia and North Carolina with relief supplies.
Tractor-trailer drivers have been delivering truckloads of relief supplies to Operation Blessing deployment sites and to Partner churches and organizations across Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina. These supplies include essentials like 500,000+ bottles of drinking water, 33,000+ emergency meal kits, 10,000+ disaster relief kits and 3,000+ hygiene kits—ensuring that those in need receive the required support. Volunteers are helping tarp roofs, mucking out floodwater damage, clearing large trees and more.
Updates from Asheville, N.C.
Hurricane Helene has caused severe flooding and mudslides in western North Carolina, submerging homes and isolating neighborhoods. Over 400 roads remain closed, and officials are using air transport to deliver supplies to cut-off areas. Due to the extensive damage of Helene affecting several states, Operation Blessing’s International Disaster Relief team has joined their U.S. Disaster Relief team in responding to those affected in Georgia and North Carolina. They established their base of operations at an Asheville, N.C. Home Depot, turning the parking lot into a relief distribution site. This enabled them to provide hygiene kits, drinking water, emergency meal kits and food boxes with nonperishable items that can feed a family of four for three days.
Updates from Valdosta, Ga.
Answering the call for help, Operation Blessing has shifted to setting up a base of operations in Valdosta, Ga., sending additional staff and equipment. There are severe power outages and an ongoing need for food and water. In response, they have set up a mobile kitchen, distributing over 1600 hot meals and sandwiches and counting.
Please join us in prayer for all who’ve been impacted by Hurricane Helene. We are standing in faith with the affected communities for restoration, as we act as the hands and feet of Jesus. Thank you, Partners, for making it possible to help Partners when disaster strikes. If you’d like to financially support our Relief Team efforts, please click the button below.
As Hurricane Milton heads toward South Florida, we are praying for God to steer it out to sea, and for His protection over His children. Watch the video below for more.
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