Hurricane Relief and the Heart of the Community
Ministry is a wild thing. There are ups and downs as there are with any type of ‘work’ or career, but no matter what great plans we have set in motion, all plans are first, as scripture says, to be structured in a way that first acknowledge His Kingdom and if that means your plans change for the good of His Kingdom...we know no matter what may come are within His good will and glory. Ten days ago, my plans were to use the following week to prepare for an intense series delving into the political landscape and the Kingdom of God. In a word, you can say this series coming up is going to be… “challenging”.
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Helene. A name none of us will ever forget. It has now coupled itself with the famously devastating Katrina, and now as Milton bears down on Florida, we may have achieved a trio of horrific life altering storms never seen before. After hearing local news warn us over and over we prepared as well as we could at the church and at home. We were as ready as we could be for no power, tons of downed trees, and people to have great need in the aftermath. What I didn’t expect was how our church family would immediately rise to the occasion to love hundreds of people as they began to put lives back together.
Friday around 6:30am, our power popped. All of Greenville was knocked out but we didn’t really understand what that meant for the towns around us for days. Friday was mostly checking on family when we had service and watching our little community come together, and when we found out Saturday morning that power was on at the church, we immediately knew what God wanted us to do: Be a refuge for the hurting, which is the first part of our mission statement. Now was the chance to demonstrate the true heart of our church.
We opened the church. We had power, which meant we had hot showers, which meant we could charge people’s devices, which meant we had ice, which meant we knew we had to be here for people who would go up to 10 or 12 days without being restored. “We’ve got a chance to serve a lot of people this week” my wife Lane said. Her words were more true than her or I had any clue at the time.
So we did just that. People poured in. Our church was full of people needing AC, a place to sit down, and hot shower. We gave away every ice cube our machine could create (as one of our members and friends would say later: “that machine deserves a Medal of Honor.” She was right.) We cooked meals, set up spaces for families to rest, and that was just the beginning.
After speaking with the elders, we decided that people needed a place to worship on Sunday, and since we had power we were going to give it all we had to make sure we were open for people to attend. We held one gathering at 10am and it was packed. Now, packed in our little church means we only fit 142 chairs (unless we really stuff the sanctuary full of cloth) but people showed up. We worshipped, hugged, and spent time together before having our annual low country boil, where we also fed something like 250 people when it was all said and done. Absolutely incredible. By Sunday at 10:30pm or so, we were exhausted but excited. We knew the journey was just beginning, but what came next would blow my mind.
“I’ve got a crazy idea.” -My brother, Chris
This isn’t the first time my brother Chris has had a crazy idea. As disciplined as he is, every gets a wild hair now and again, and Chris has been known to come up with some wild considerations. He works for Cheeseman Transport, which means he slings 18 wheelers for a living.
At 12:21pm, I say hello to an obviously excited Chris (again, not abnormal). His next words: “I’ve got a crazy idea.” He went on to say he convinced his ownership to donate a truck, park it at our church, and together we could fill the truck with supplies to WNC. I was in. I have dear friends and fellow church planters who had already been on the ground for days. They needed help. I told him absolutely. No problem. Then… he told me that he believed if we staged it at our church, and we asked our church and community to show up, we could fill it up. I agreed, immediately.
Then he said something that scared me a bit. “let’s get it filled by Friday and delivered this weekend.”
Uh oh.
I don’t know if you’ve seen the inside of a 53′ truck, but I have. My dad was in the floral business his whole life with Kroger, and on busy holidays my other brother and I would join him and fill trucks with pallets of flowers. They are HUGE. VAST. EMPTY. People build houses out of these things nowadays. I have to admit, it was daunting to look at.
We made some videos promoting #FillTheTruck, added a page on our website, and wow did it blow up. By the time the truck got here Monday at 4pm, donations were flooding in. By weeks end, our video updates had over 62,000 views, and that’s just on our pages without the literal thousands of shares. We knew this was going to be some work, but worth every bit of it.
We originally set out to #fillthetruck which was a 53′ tractor trailer with supplies and needs. Our goal was a week. In my own heart I wondered not if we could achieve it, but how long it would take. I thought 4 days was short sighted. So many of you were also without power, water, and more. Many couldn’t even get the word on social media because phones and internet were down.
“I just want to help, so I came here.”
While donations poured in, so did volunteers. Our church SHOWED. UP. I couldn’t even begin to try and understand how many volunteer hours went in to the following 8 days. There were never less than 20 people here. The body of Christ showed up beginning at 7:30am and many didnt go home until after 9pm that same day. There must have been tens of thousands of volunteer hours just last week. Friends from all over Greenville County came and packed pallets, cooked food, watched kids, baked goods, cleaned (!), and more. We met hundreds and hundreds of people. By Tuesday afternoon, not only was I sure we were going to fill the truck, but I was sure we were going to do it in time to #FilltheParkingLotSunday (see what I did there?) as well.
We filled the truck in 3 days. We also filled TWO 26′ box trucks. And a sprinter van. and an econoline van. and two personal vehicles. Amazing. I say we because it was a huge effort. We: our community. Our church. People of the Church who go to other churches. People who don’t go to church at all. People. People helping people, and being united under a big vision to make a huge impact in their community both here and in WNC.
We didn’t just help WNC with products. We also have had over 200 people take showers at TSC. We gave away something like 3 TONS of ice. We ended up feeding between 600-750 meals. I couldn’t even tell you how many devices, generators, and power blocks charged at TSC. We’ve raised nearly $12,000 of which 100% is going on the ground in WNC, providing fuel, showers, generators, food, cleanup, and so much more.
“This is going to be a long term thing.”
One thing we recognized: this is not a one week sprint. This is a marathon. Not only are we going to be taking donations and following up with trips each week to supply people, but our S3rve Saturdays are going to look a little different too. We are forming teams that will be taking trips to rebuild WNC with our partners on the ground. We’ve even brought on Brianna Bothof to be our official Relief Efforts Coordinator at Trailside to see this thing through. We are no where near done. We are committed to this rebuild both in WNC and in Greenville County until the need is satisfied. One thing we know — This is what the body of Christ looks like. This is what it means when a devoted group shows up because the Gospel means something in their lives. This is what happens when the people of God say yes and come together to do something incredible.
And church: I am so proud of you. I tell people all the time how different Trailside is because of the people who call this place home. I think after seeing you at your finest last week, our community is beginning to see it too.
To our staff: You are rockstars. In addition to moving, renovating houses, and being stranded yourself, you showed up. You were flexible, resilient, and supportive. You cooked, cleaned, and didn’t get frustrated when chargers went missing, offices and kids rooms were destroyed, or we had to shift events, you were incredible.
To our church: I am still flabbergasted at how you showed up, and continue to do so. You organized and filled a truck and so much more. You showed up with muffins on Monday morning, meals throughout the week; you sent neighbors our way so we could help; you volunteered unbelievable hours and every time I said thank you the response was “this is no problem, it’s what we should be doing.” You were selfless, abundant in generosity, and your ability to see people the way Jesus sees them was unparalleled. You truly demonstrated what it means to have a Gospel Kingdom Mindset.
To our community of Travelers Rest and Greenville County: Thank you for coming alongside us. You shared posts, you dropped off supplies, and you even hung out and helped love people within our church building who were in bad ways. When I say that if our church shut down and the city wouldn’t miss us we don’t need to be here anyway, its because I mean it, because moments like this are when the church is at its best. We aren’t perfect at Trailside, but I hope you’ve seen how much we love Jesus first, which is why our people showed up last week like they did. What makes TSC special isn’t me, it’s them. Would love for you to be a part of it.
To our friends in Western North Carolina: We see you and we aren’t anywhere near done. We will be bringing supplies, donations, and teams to you until the work is done. We know that in the coming weeks the fervor and focus will die off with many, and with a Hurricane destined for Florida tomorrow the focus nationwide will largely pull away, but we won’t. We will be with you until you don’t need us anymore.
I love you Trailside. This is a special place, and this is just the beginning. We will have future moments of hardship and trial, but this is why we push through them together in unity rather than dig our heels in with anger. This is a place worth fighting for, because God is using it to change lives both outside of the walls and inside.
I hope to see you Sunday.
Please feel free to share your experience in the comments! My hope is that we can come back to this page and have a storybook of moments where God showed up in the future!
Sean Gajda is the Lead Pastor at Trailside Church in Travelers Rest, SC. He and his wonderful wife Lane are raising 3 children together: Collin (CJ), Emma Rose, and Gavin to love Jesus and people as well as they know how. He also is teaching them humility by brainwashing them to be Cleveland sports fans. You can reach Pastor Sean by emailing Sean@trailside.church.