Disaster Relief Ministry Assistance
(Hurricane Bonnie hits North Carolina in Fall 1998)

"Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared." Proverbs 3:25-26 (NIV)

Personal Testimony of Hurricane Bonnie Ministry/Mission Trip

Hurricane debris at the home of Milly Phillips in Morehead City, N.C.

Blowing away the mess! (William Barnhardt, CIM's Webmaster / dear brother in Christ)

Up on the roof... 

A weekend's ministry completed. Whew!

Milly Phillips and her special friend, Sport 

Hurricane Bonnie Blessings
Testimony by William O. Barnhardt III

"The most important one," answered Jesus, " is this: `Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-31 (English-NIV))

The weekend following Hurricane Bonnie (8/28-8/31, 1998) will truly go down as one of the most blessed weekends in my life. It all started with a small pluck of my heart strings (by the grace of God) to help my fellow North Carolinians in their time of need. Hurricane Bonnie pelted the east coast with her winds and rain topping in some places 100 mph and 11 inches , respectively. The damage was graciously minimal as compared to past storms Bertha and Fran, but still there were folks in need and the Lord called on me to assist. I got in touch with my very special friend, Reverend David Haltom of Christian Impact Ministries, and let him know that I was willing and able to assist those in need. David and his wife, Traci had lived near the east coast in New Bern, NC and I knew that the Lord would be speaking to his heart also. This truly got the plans in motion. With the help of Christian Impact Ministries and some very dear people on the east coast, arrangements were made for mine and David’s lodging and we began our trip at 6:20 am on Friday morning.

"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20 (English-NIV))

Little did I know that the Lord had other motives in mind when he laid this task on my heart. As David and I made the five hour journey to New Bern with our tools in tow, we were able to share in the Spirit and grow even closer in our friendship. I truly had a revival of my soul and knew that the Lord was with us in that little truck. The time passed so quickly that I wasn’t sure I wanted it to end, but I also knew that the formidable task was yet to come. David is truly a gift given to me in friendship and spiritual leadership and I thank God for him and Christian Impact Ministries everyday. This journey certainly reminded me to never take David or any friend or family member for granted and to always strive to love them like the Lord loves me.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 (English-NIV))

David and I arrived in New Bern shortly before lunch time. We were able to assess fairly quickly that this city had been spared any great damage and that the Lord would lead us elsewhere for the weekend. But, we had a few stops to make prior to continuing. The first stop was The Shepherd Shoppe, a Christian bookstore managed by a very special lady, Mrs. Sondra Powers. It did not take long after meeting Sondra to see that she and her husband Ed are truly ministers of the gospel. They had offered us a place to stay and we were able to accept later in the weekend for Sunday night. After a time of sharing with Sondra, we were on to our second stop - the home of Graham and Nan Gaylord. The Gaylord family displayed the perfect example of faith and trust. They were headed out of town on a family vacation and offered their entire house for David and I to stay while they were away. We accepted and were blessed by the showing of friendship, love and trust by both the Gaylord and the Powers family.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 (English-NIV))

Based on information from our friends in New Bern, the Lord led David and I further east to Morehead City, NC. When we arrived, it was very evident that this city had received the brunt of the hurricane winds and rain. There were notable power outages, structure and tree damage and debris everywhere. I knew then that we were in the right vicinity to assist those in need. After visiting several neighborhoods, we were beginning to question the calling because it seemed that everyone was coping without our help. Around 4:00 pm, we decided to visit an old friend of David’s who lived in Morehead City, Danny Capps. During our visit, we were able to share our feeling of uselessness and once again, the Lord spoke to us through another. Danny was able to point us in the direction of some established neighborhoods where we might be able to locate some elderly who needed help. We left and traveled to those neighborhoods. At this point, we were looking for homes where no or very little clean up had occurred. We came across two such homes relatively close to one another. The first we stopped and rang the doorbell, but no answer. We went to the second home and found the reason for our journey - the home of Mrs. Milly Phillips.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24 (English-NIV))

After explaining the reason for our visit, we began the task of cleaning up Milly’s property. While we were working and even after finishing for the evening, Milly continued to question how we arrived at her house. She seemed to be emotionally moved and in awe at the only explanation - the Lord led us to her home and He is always right. The odds of two men traveling 300 plus miles to find this person in need among thousands of homes is too hard to grasp without the explanation that His hands were there all the time. And Milly was in need of our services. She had a great deal of pine needles, branches and even some rather large limbs that had fallen during the storm. Milly is physically unable to handle such a large task of restoring her property to its original condition. She has heart complications that prevent her from exerting herself. She even experienced some dizziness just walking around and talking to us. Also, Milly lost her husband some time ago and had no family members that were close by to help her.

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26 (English-NIV))

David and I returned Saturday morning to continue our task. Due to the 95° F temperature and 115° F heat index, we took many water breaks and had ample opportunities to minister to and learn more about Milly. She has two daughters and grandchildren along with a dog named Sport. We learned that Milly attended First Baptist Church in Morehead City, but was considering other churches. She had lived in this house since 1978 when she moved from Raleigh, NC. Milly seemed to have grown accustomed to the hurricanes over the years, but freely admitted that she is frightened during the storms. David was able to share information about Christian Impact Ministries and was also able to leave with her several Christian tracks and a cassette tape of his most recent sermon. The most important sharing that we did with Milly was through our hard work and labor that the Lord had led us there to do. Our faith with works was truly a blessing to all three of us.

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10 (English-NIV))

Sunday morning David and I were able to attend River Bend Baptist Church with Ed and Sondra. Again, the Lord was able to show His blessings by allowing us to participate in Sondra’s Sunday School lesson. The lesson was about false teachers. It gave me a chance to focus on my own teachings of Sunday School and to reaffirm my character as a teacher of God’s word. The worship service to follow was spiritually lifting and added to the drive to complete our task. After sharing a wonderful lunch with Ed and Sondra, David and I returned to Milly’s to finish. We were able to complete the last couple of hours of work and had closing prayer with Milly before we left. By the watery eyes, it was evident that this calling was a success and truly touched Milly’s heart. We were able to exchange addresses, receive a personal thank you card from Milly and head back to New Bern.

The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace. (Psalms 29:11 (English-NIV))

Monday morning David and I traveled back to Concord as two very tired men, but knowing the blessings we had received from this trip, it didn’t matter that we were tired. Thank you David, Christian Impact Ministries, Ed and Sondra, Graham and Nan, Danny and a special thank you to Milly and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ for such a wonderful trip.

Post Office Box 3349  Concord, North Carolina 28025-0005  USA