Dear Soldiers of the Cross,
My community for the month of October has been my mission field. In the pictures below you can see some of the destruction that Hurricane Helene brought to Western NC. We lost over 16 individuals in my community and 13 in the community of Garren Creek, pictured above. Eleven of these were family members. The US Geological Survey has mapped over 1,893 landslides for the storm, with 301 in my county (Buncombe). The death toll from the storm has now reached 227, with 102 fatalities for WNC and 43 for Buncombe County. More than 30 people are still missing, with 20 from Buncombe County. It has been said that no one living today has ever seen this much destruction from a storm.
Mark 4:37 “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.” We know that God allows storms to come in our lives, but they are always for a reason. He uses the storms to teach us about ourselves and also to enable us to see him in his power and peace working in our lives. Oh, God, please help us to see and hear all that you are saying to us in these days. Please keep WNC in your prayers as we try and move forward in rebuilding homes and finding the mind of God through all that has happened.
As We Labor for Christ,
Gerry & Sheril Locklear
Missionaries to the Native Americans