As Roan Creek began to flood in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, 15 Mexican men who were living alongside the creek had to vacate their homes and find higher ground.
They gathered underneath a tree in front of the house of a member of a nearby Roan Creek Baptist Church in Mountain City, Tennessee, who saw them and wanted to help. The member called her pastor, David Hankal, and asked if she could take them to the church’s fellowship hall.
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Hankal immediately said yes and the church member (who did not want to be identified) and her son and daughter-in-law began ministering to the men.
They led them to the fellowship hall which housed a kitchen. Though there was no electricity, there was food in the refrigerator and freezer that needed to be used before it ruined, Hankal said.
Church members used propane grills that were in the fellowship hall and fed the men. In addition, the church has a medical equipment ministry. They gathered up some mattresses and took them over to the building so the men would have a place to sleep.
Meanwhile, Hankal and his wife and another couple went to the trailers they lived in to gather their laundry and took it to their homes to wash. While they were out, they discovered a house with other Mexicans who did not want to leave. “We found out what they needed and took hospital beds and mattresses to them and began cooking meals wand washing clothes for them,” he said.
The Mexicans were very gracious and appreciative, the pastor noted.
Lasting appreciation
Once it was safe to cross the bridge, the church member that was there for them from the start, found them someone to help in moving. Due to the flood the guys were out of work. The family and the church member gave them money for helping.
In the days that followed, the church continued to minister to them with the help of a local interpreter. Due to job situations, some of the men moved to another location, but eight men remained in the house the pastor had discovered.
William Burton, ethnic church planting specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, learned about the situation and contacted Saul Delgado, a Hispanic pastor in Bristol who traveled to Mountain City to talk with the men.
Burton came within the next few days and shared with the Hispanics as well. He noted that one of the men told him, “That church (Roan Creek) has brought us food every day. I have never experienced that before,” Burton recalled.
The appreciation they have for Roan Creek and “the guys in the yellow shirts” (DR volunteers) is lasting, he added.
During Burton’s conversation with them, two of the men accepted Jesus and their Savior, he said. “They were ready to accept Christ because of the kindness that was shown to them by the church,” Burton said.
Hankal was there when they accepted Jesus. He noted one of the men who he had developed a relationship with came over and pointed to Burton and said, “He is now my brother. He then hugged me and said they were very thankful. It was awesome,” Hankal said.
“They were very grateful and excited. We gave them all Bibles and we are going to follow up with them,” he added, noting the church will open their baptistry up to them at any time for baptism.
Burton said the Bristol pastor also plans to come each week and begin discipling the new believers.
He added that the decisions for Christ proved the value of cooperation and disaster relief work because it involved a local pastor and church members, a pastor from a neighboring association and others.
“It is all about the gospel,” Burton affirmed.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Lonnie Wilkey and originally published by Baptist and Reflector.
