In with both feet

AUSTELL — The elementary math of a flood is as simple as “less than-greater than.” Water less than the banks’ height stays where it’s supposed to. When it becomes greater than its channel, accepted parameters can’t hold. It creeps into basements, dens, and classrooms. Even if the bulk of cleanup is done in a few days, the effects are felt long-term.

Before north Georgia had a chance to hit the snooze button Monday, Sept. 21 the waters were rising. It had been raining off and on for a week, but that day forecasts had called for particularly heavy showers to pound the already-saturated ground.

The next 24 hours brought images of muddy rivers forming across country roads and even Atlanta interstates. The most indelible one, though, was of water rising to a few feet below a roof, its crest underlining the wording “Clarkdale Elementary School” on the building. Anxious parents had rushed to the school the day before to get their children amid reports of nearby Sweetwater Creek flooding.

On Sept. 28 the community came together at Ewing Road Baptist Church. Part reunion, part celebration of people’s giving, the event culminated a drive through The School Box stores and 11Alive News to provide school supplies for students of Clarkdale.

When contacted by 11Alive asking on possible locations for a special on-site broadcast of the evening news that day, leaders of Clarkdale’s PTA wanted Ewing Road.

The church had adopted Clarkdale at the beginning of the school year. In the month before the flood, members had refurbished picnic tables and built flower boxes with benches for the dozen-or-so modular units on campus.

“Our goal was, and still is, to minister to the teachers and students. There are plans to continue that through ways such as reading to students on a weekly basis,” said Pastor Michael Stovall. “We want to find creative ways to minister to Clarkdale and the surrounding community.”

 

Building relational equity

Located in an ethnically diverse area, Ewing Road got a booster shot for local ministry and evangelism six years ago in naming Levi Skipper as pastor. Skipper, now a full-time evangelist, led church members in witness training and building inroads with neighbors. Those efforts eventually built the relational equity for Ewing Road to partner with Clarkdale and host the Sept. 28 event.

Ewing Road Chairman of Deacons Tony Ashcraft was among the flood victims. In using new-era technology to tell others, though, he was reminded of old-school answers for help.

“You feel so much love in this church,” he said. “I was standing in my yard and took a picture of the water coming up. I posted it on Facebook and asked if anyone wanted to go fishing. Within the hour, ten people had shown up at my house to help me move furniture (his basement would take on a half-foot of water). The same ten waded in the next day to help rip out carpet.”

In the days following the flood, Ewing Road members fed more than 1,500 people, according to Stovall. Ashcraft said up to 10,000 bottles of water were distributed. Donated clothes piled up to the point they were sent to local clothes closets to help with the demand.

 

Hitting a lull

Even when it seemed church members had hit a lull in helping, they hadn’t.

“We finally ran out of water to distribute Friday morning,” said Ashcraft. “Just then Home Depot showed up with 200 more cases, so we were back at it.”

Preliminary numbers by the American Red Cross estimate more than 2,800 Georgia homes were affected by the flooding, with 745 destroyed and 760 sustaining heavy damage.

Standing in line alongside her son Jesse to gather school supplies, Brenda Taylor echoed the mixed emotions of goodness born from destruction.

“We’re so blessed to be able to come together after such a tragedy,” she said. “The water was powerful, but God is strong and over it all.”

“People should [find ways to help others] all the time,” said Jesse, a third grader at Clarkdale who added he had lost his crayon box, binder, and folders to the flood waters.

“This is one of those things you never want to see happen, but proves God can take any event and use it for good,” pointed out Jeff Daxon, Church Development pastor at Ewing Road. “I’m so proud of our people. No pastor could be happier than in seeing his people live out what Christ would have them to do.”

11Alive sports anchor Fred Kalil spoke on the personal benefit he and coworkers experienced in broadcasting on-site.

“You hate for it to be under these circumstances,” he said. “But it’s nice to get out [of the studio] and meet people. This has been great.”

 

New look

Stovall, who came to Ewing Road in June, admitted to a different perspective when a natural disaster happens locally.

“It’s overwhelming,” he said. “I’ve been on mission trips. I worked with Hurricane Katrina cleanup. But there you help for a week and get on the van and leave. It’s so different knowing whose home that is underwater.

“People’s belongings are out in the yard. No one has flood insurance – why would they have it here? This is a neighborhood without a lot of discretionary income. Many are talking about how they just can’t afford the cleanup. They’re going to let the bank take the house.”

Although floored with volunteers’ response, Stovall brought a word of caution.

“This is a long distance run, not a sprint. In two weeks the adrenaline will be gone. Eighteen months from now we’ll still be dealing with this.”

Early in the cleanup effort, Stovall said a particular passage had been on his heart, gaining clarity in the days to come.

“I kept thinking about Matthew 9:35-36 where Jesus described the people as ‘harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.’ The amount of hopelessness and helplessness on the people’s faces was overwhelming. The devastation of the flood was enormous. We were simply overwhelmed with what we were seeing. Yet, the people needed help and we knew we had a responsibility to serve.

“By Thursday morning we started receiving phone calls and emails from pastors, churches, and other organizations wanting to know how they could help. The support of the Body of Christ has overwhelmed us! God reminded me that the passage in Matthew 9 also includes vv. 37-38, “Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He would send out workers into His harvest.”

In addition to volunteers through Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and numerous churches, about two dozen students from Truett-McConnell College assisted with distributing water bottles and feeding others Oct. 3.

11Alive estimated up to 1,500 people attended the Sept. 28 event. Numerous volunteers provided manpower alongside church members in distributing supplies and food to students and parents. The 40 pallets of supplies and $17,000 in gift cards and checks gathered will end up being a fraction of the total amount.

Atlanta’s pro sports franchises got into the act, with the Thrashers, Hawks, and Falcons making monetary donations while the Braves provided game tickets for every member of the faculty, staff, and student body of Clarkdale. WXIA 11Alive President and General Manager Bob Walker presented a $10,000 check for teacher supplies.

No one could blame Stovall, interviewed live a couple of times during the broadcast, for having a few butterflies from the logistics of hosting such an event. Taking the baton from Skipper in leading Ewing Road to an even more pronounced community presence, the eyes of Atlanta were going to watch perhaps a couple thousand people – many who’d just lost everything – gather for free items on his church’s front lawn.

But in seeing orderly lines, watching relieved parents, and hearing excited children showing off new pencils, folders, and backpacks, he remarked to Daxon, “When all this is over, I don’t care if no one in Atlanta knows my name as long as people in this community come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.”

Six years ago the parameters of ministry at Ewing Road Baptist Church changed. A greater-than-before effort to reach the community took hold.

The effects are being felt long-term.