Six families in Greene County whose homes were heavily damaged and their lives were disrupted by Hurricane Helene were back in their homes on Thanksgiving Day or shortly thereafter.
First Baptist Church Greeneville, in conjunction with Aidnet of Greene County, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and Grace Baptist Church, Springfield, coordinated the Nov. 22–25 effort, said FBC pastor David Green.
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The project originally was designed to construct five homes in five days, but it turned out to be six homes in less than four full days, Green said.
“It was exciting to see,” he said of the effort. All of the houses are either completed or 90% completed, he noted.
First Baptist Church made an early decision to partner with Aidnet and TBMB in the relief and recovery efforts after the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene, Green said.
According to the most recent statistics, 57 homes in the county were destroyed and 50 homes were still standing but were inhabitable, he noted.
“At first we worked with as many people and churches as possible to identify needs,” Green said.
“(We helped) clean the mud and debris out of flooded homes and to distribute water and supplies as the initial phase of recovery started,” Green said.
Aidnet, a non-profit organization in the county founded a few years ago to help flood and tornado victims in the county, vetted applications and selected six homes that could be restored in five days, Green said. Aidnet is led by Jeff Idell, a contractor and a deacon at First Baptist, and his son Josh Idell and Robert Bailey, a volunteer with the organization.
Steve Freeman, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, sang the praises of Jeff Idell and Aidnet. “We have been doing this a long time and they are the best people I’ve ever worked with. They had the materials on site and if we needed anything, they got it for us.”
The costs for helping the residents get back to their home will be shared by First Baptist, Grace Baptist and Aidnet, Green said.
Looking to rebuild
During the recent meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention in Murfreesboro, Green shared how the county was affected by the hurricane and how the devastation in the area affected him when he saw homes and churches destroyed. “God wants those places rebuilt and lives restored,” he told messengers.
First Baptist has received thousands of dollars and multiple offers to help, including Grace Baptist Church in Springfield which is led by pastor Steve Freeman, a longtime friend of Green.
Grace Baptist brought about 108 volunteers from their congregation and surrounding churches in Middle Tennessee to Greeneville to begin the process of restoring the homes on Nov. 22, Freeman said.
As the storms rolled through East Tennessee in September, Freeman said he remembered thinking that there will be a lot of response at first but eventually the rebuilding process will be needed.
“When we had the opportunity to assess what needed to be done and prayed, we knew we needed to start somewhere, so we contacted David,” said Freeman, who also served as project manager. He was assisted by Damon Ross of First Baptist Church, Woodlawn.
In an interview with the Baptist and Reflector at the end of the third day, Freeman said it has been a whirlwind. He actually flew to Springfield on Sunday morning and returned to Greeneville that afternoon. “I think we got more done today (Sunday) with me gone than on Saturday,” he laughed.
Freeman said he had several contractors within the group and he assigned each one a house. “My only instruction was to get it done,” he said. “And, they did.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Lonnie Wilkey and originally published by Baptist and Reflector.
