For Chris and Barbara Davies, the fury of Hurricane Isaias was followed by deafening, lonely silence.
Winds upwards of 100 mph and driving rains tore apart their neighborhood in Milton, Florida, in a matter of hours on Oct. 9. But it was the silent hopelessness afterwards that gripped their hearts.
“We heard the trees break; we heard the screams from the wind,” Barbara recounted. She bunkered in the bathroom during the storm as Chris braced his feet against the door to keep it closed. “And then silence. No power. The roads were covered. The poles were down. We were in the dark with nothing. It was quiet and our emotions fell apart.”
When dawn came, they saw the 60-foot oak tree in their front yard leaning within inches of their roof, held in place by a few roots clinging to the ground. Debris from homes across town littered their yard. Chris grabbed his reciprocating saw, but its 6-inch blade was no match for the trunks and branches all around him.
Barbara said, “Who was going to come and help us?”
But the silence cast by Isaias was broken soon after by orange-shirted Samaritan’s Purse volunteers ready to serve in Jesus’ Name. The Heaven-sent group of strangers descended on the Davies’ home, cut apart and removed the massive oak, cleared other debris, and showed the couple a love they will never forget.
“I say thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Barbara said with tears in her eyes. “We had hour after hour in the dark, and then a miracle happens. It’s so overwhelming. I can’t believe that there is someone out there who would help.”
The volunteers gave the couple a special Billy Graham Training Center Bible and prayed over them before Barbara hugged each of her new friends goodbye.
“We know that God’s presence is around us all the time. But sometimes when you let your human instincts get a hold of you, the fear and doubt creeps in,” Barbara said. “And then you have this group come, and it was radiating. I felt a lot of God’s presence through [these people].”
Working as the Hands and Feet of Jesus
Samaritan’s Purse is working in the western Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama in the wake of Hurricane Isaias, a deadly Category 2 storm that struck the Gulf Coast last weekend. More than 2,000 families have requested assistance from Samaritan’s Purse volunteer teams since our assessors arrived the day after the storm.
“We are bringing volunteers from all over the county to come and serve [as] the hands and feet of Jesus, spreading the good news that God has not forgotten the people of this area of Florida and Alabama,” said Gabe Moudy, a Samaritan’s Purse program manager with U.S. Disaster Relief.
Skid steers, tractors, and dozens of volunteers move from yard to yard removing tangled fallen trees and scattered debris to help restore a semblance of normalcy for these hurting families. For Ashley, a local sixth-grade teacher in Milton whose school was damaged in the storm, volunteering with Samaritan’s Purse meant operating a chainsaw for the first time and being a light in her reeling community.
“I look around in the community, and I see everybody that is struggling, and I thought, ‘What better way [to spend my time] than to come out here and help my friends and community,’” she said. “We are able to share the Gospel with these people but also help them.”
Healing Years of Pain by Love in Action
Gregory Kimbriel has had seven heart surgeries, each more unsettling, complicated, and dangerous than the one before.
“I know that on all the operating tables I have been on, I’ve died many times,” he said. “I’m not supposed to be here. I look OK on the outside, but the inside is all messed up from the different viruses and illnesses. But it’s all necessary to show what God has done for me. It’s clear He’s kept me here for whatever reason that may be.”
Gregory has lived in his Florida home for decades. It’s where he cared for his mother and father before they passed, and it’s where he plans to spend the rest of his days. On cabinets, dressers, and coffee tables the 65-year-old has photos of his family set in frames. This corner of Inwood Street in Milton is home.
As a native Floridian, Gregory knows how to prepare for hurricanes but still insists he hasn’t experienced a storm quite like Isaias since Hurricane Ivan made landfall as a Category 3 in 2004. Isaias made noises he’d never heard as the winds toppled over a dozen trees on his property.
“It was a frightening storm, but what was more frightening was when I got out and looked at the driveway and realized I couldn’t leave,” he said. “I’m looking at this mess and for the very first time, I can’t get out of here. I was trapped.
“Then two gentlemen showed up and told me what was going on and how they would help,” Gregory said about the Samaritan’s Purse assessors who arrived at his door less than 48 hours after the storm.
As volunteers gathered on the front porch before work began, Gregory couldn’t hold back the tears.
“I had to go back inside because I was getting ready to cry and I didn’t want to do that in front of all of them. You cry during spiritual moments—and they aren’t sad tears—they are extremely humble and thankful tears.”
The team spent the day removing the many trees on all sides of his property to the curb, clearing his driveway so that he could get out. As the day concluded, they again gathered around Gregory to gift him a Bible and pray.
As those in the circle said, “Amen,” Gregory also prayed to thank God.
“My cup is overflowing today. Thank you. In Jesus’ Name—come soon—amen.”
With hundreds of work orders being submitted every day at our sites in Alabama and Florida, please pray for strength and endurance for our staff and volunteer teams. Please also prayerfully consider visiting spvolunteer.org to sign up to volunteer with U.S. Disaster Relief, where you can serve as the hands and feet of Jesus and bless the lives of those upended by Hurricane Isaias.
