May 15, 2025
CUMMING, Ga. — What began as a simple coat drive for Hurricane Helene victims has grown into a long-term mission of love, led by Haw Creek Baptist Church, other Hightower Baptist Association congregations, and Christian ministries across northeast Georgia. Among the participating churches are Harmony Baptist Church in Dawsonville, Pine Crest in Cumming, Shady Grove-Forsyth, and Pleasant View in Cumming.
This ongoing ministry has been marked by personal investment, practical support, and a desire to meet physical and spiritual needs. Shad Faulkner, pastor of Haw Creek in Cumming, says the point of reaching out to those impacted by the storm is simple. “Ultimately, the goal is to get them to trust us and know that we love them. That’s how we can tell them about Jesus.”
Trust takes time, and it takes being present—two things the teams from Georgia have invested in.
It started a few days after Helene’s rampage across the South, when Jason Power, youth director at Haw Creek, got a call from a member. He recalled that she said, “Jason, we need to do something, as a church. Can’t we do anything?” He agreed, so Power called a contact in North Carolina to see what was most needed.
“We need coats. It’ll be 32 degrees in the morning,” he was told. As soon as he hung up, Power called Kevin Smith and Paul Bagley. Smith is the manager of the HBA food and clothing bank, and Bagley is the director. In one of the many miracles that Power says occurred along the way, the two were riding together when his call came. “They were immediately on board,” Power said, “by 11 a.m. the next morning they were headed north with the first load of clothing, boots, etc.”
In the months that followed, the effort continued to grow. Megan Edwards in Waynesville, N.C., asked Power if they would be willing to provide toys for Christmas. Kim Weldy, who organizes the yearly HBA toy drive, was brought in to handle logistics, and quickly set up a spreadsheet to track families and gifts. Edwards had already partnered with the church to distribute clothing and other items to impacted families.
Toy collection began and quickly gathered steam until the needs were met.
Faulkner said, “Before I knew it, we had 400 families signed up, so that’s about 700 people that we were going to serve in Waynesville. And we had about 150 volunteers on our end, ready to go.”
Then Power had another idea. “I want to give them Bibles,” he said, “good, leather, Bibles.”
Power explained, “In my mind, I’m thinking I’d like to hand the head of each family a Bible, and say, ‘Here’s the most important thing we’re giving you. We’re giving you toys and stuff, but here’s what can change your life.’”
Faulkner raised the issue of cost, which would be significant for quality Bibles. Within an hour of raising the idea, Power called him back and said, “I’ve got the money for the Bibles. There’s a business owner who wants to donate $25,000.”
“Let’s go get these people Bibles,” Faulkner replied.
Faulkner said, ““We went up there, and served meals to around 400 families, provided Christmas for their kids, and gave Bibles to each of the families.” And, he added, they are eager to do more.
As the ministry gained traction, others joined in to meet ongoing needs. Butch Kirk of Boots on the Ground ministry and a member of Pine Crest Baptist Church in Cumming, had been making trips to North Carolina with food and supplies for months.
“At first,” he said, “I just went up to Old Fort, and I was feeding people out of the back of my trailer, cooking them hot dogs and hamburgers.” Since then, he estimates he’s served more than 3,000 meals.
“We started a little place called The Refuge” in Old Fort, he said, “and we have a distribution center, and there’s a little kitchen in it so we're able to prepare meals and feed the community and distribute goods there. And now,” he added, “we've started having church on Sunday.
“Our average is anywhere from 18 to 26 people every Sunday. So the Lord's been very good to us there and started a little church. It’s growing, and people are desiring to hear the Word.”
Kirk has had opportunities to share the gospel with those he is helping. “I've just been consistent about what I'm trying to do, and feed them meals and be there for them in their time of need. And through that, I found that they would start praying with me, and then they wouldn't let me leave without praying.”
He continued, “And when they did that, that opened up the doors for me to be able to share the Word of the Lord and open the Bible and actually share scripture with them.”
Kirk says the impact has been felt not just in North Carolina but among the Georgia volunteers as well. He reported that two of the young men who would ride to North Carolina with him were not themselves saved at first but still had a desire to help. One of the men accepted Jesus as his Savior shortly after, and the other recently came to faith in Christ also.
Weldy agrees. “That’s another part of the story. I think it's not just what has happened to the people there, but it's what's happened to us as Christians.” She continued, “I had become complacent in my salvation, and that's not where God wants us to be. And He replaced that complacency with a fire, a revival inside of me to work more for Him.”
Chuck Bragg and his wife are also a part of the effort to reach affected areas of North Carolina with physical and spiritual help. He recalled that people were initially skeptical of his motives. Bragg and his wife had bought some chicken at a restaurant and were looking for people to help when they stopped at one house on a Sunday evening. The homeowner told him, “We're tired of people handing us a bottle of water and taking our picture.”
Bragg assured the man that it was not their intent. The next Monday, he said, “I was back up there with building materials to help them get back into their home in the weeks to come. So that was the first relationship that we were able to build. And then it was from that home to another home to another home.”
That consistent, faithful relationship-building is what has made the next steps possible. For Easter this year, Haw Creek and the other ministries organized events in Old Fort and Waynesville, N.C. Those who attended received Easter goodies, with a heavy dose of solid Biblical preaching.
In Old Fort, Power said, volunteers provided a full Easter meal, with ham, turkey and all the trimmings. But the best part was seeing a lady in her 60s come to faith in Christ.
Bragg said, “We're hoping to see a great harvest spiritually out of all the efforts that we've done in the muck and the mire since October. Our journey didn't start in December with the toy drive. Our journey started with a box of chicken and a prayer in October.”
