Hope from ashes

By Jeff Becraft

Last week, I talked about how hard Black Mountain Home for Children in NC was hit by Hurricane Helene. Right after that, a person who used to work for the Home posted a picture with a clear sky and a rainbow over the campus of Black Mountain Home.  They all saw it as they ate dinner that night.

The picture included the words: “God is faithful.” The person who posted the picture?… they lost their house during the storm.

It stirred my heart. They lost their house during the storm… and yet they still had hope… that things were not over and that the destruction was not the final word.

There’s a book on my bookshelf entitled, These Strange Ashes. It is written by one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Elliot. In the book, she describes how certain things that happen in life… the tragedies, the losses, the disappointments… it can just seem like strange ashes. There has been so much devastation, so much destruction in the western North Carolina area and other areas as well.

But even in the midst of that, there is hope.

I just talked with a staff member from BMH last night.  He had all kinds of stories to share with me. One was that some of the staff from SOTO had driven all the way from Arkansas to help out.  SOTO is a camp out in boogah cheetah in the Ozarks of Arkansas and for a week each year, they host a camp for kids from children’s homes. BMH has been a major factor in that camp every year.  In fact, they go in several days early and do firewood duty for the camp, cutting and stacking the wood for all the woodburning stoves on site that are used all year long.

One year, a tornado had gone through SOTO and they were specifically waiting for BMH to come in for us to clear out the downed trees in this one area.  It was an epic time (and is worth an email all by itself).

But now… now… some of the staff (and they have a very small staff) came all the way from Arkansas bringing water, gasoline, and staying 3-4 days to serve on campus.  It stirs my heart.

Then I got an email from a friend of our family whose husband, Joe, and the CFO of their company, Rusty, were flying supplies from Virginia down to North Carolina. “Many pilots are volunteering to fly south and drop these items off at nine airports where a network has been established. There are volunteers there who off-load planes in SIX MINUTES each! Helicopter pilots then take smaller bundles to the most deeply affected areas, offload, and pick up people who need to be evacuated… as many as a chopper can carry… usually three people at a time. Then, they repeat…

Here is a news link about this particular operation: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/volunteer-pilots-are-flying-supplies-trapped-hurricane-helene-victims-rcna173885

The stories go on. And with the widespread damage, they will need to go on.

When everything that can be shaken is shaken, then the only thing that remains is that which cannot be shaken.

And there is One who can bring beauty out of the ashes.

It is a great day to stir one another to hope and to help one another.

Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope and the Director Emeritus for Youth Corps and has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. Our Place of Hope is a paradigm shift for people living with mental illness that encourages them to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. You can connect with Jeff at  [email protected].