October 4, 2026
MARION, N.C. — Two years to the day after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, N.C. Baptists on Mission dedicated its new Marion Rebuild Center on Sunday, Sept. 27, in a ceremony recognizing volunteers, churches and community partners who have driven recovery efforts across the region.
The new facility is the former Camping World of Marion commercial and recreational complex, which Baptists on Mission acquired this summer and has since repurposed into a hub for its ongoing rebuild work. The dedication service included remarks from state, local, and county officials, as well as community and church leaders.
Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage across western North Carolina in late September 2024. Baptists on Mission volunteers have worked since then to rebuild homes throughout the region. Paul Langston, the ministry’s rebuild and state projects coordinator, said crews had completed repairs on 1,195 homes as of Friday, Sept. 25, and were on pace to reach 1,200 within days.
Under previous ownership, the Marion property operated as a full-service recreational vehicle (RV) destination, combining a sales showroom with service facilities and an adjoining campground offering roughly 66 RV sites with full hookups. The complex spans roughly 80.65 acres and includes approximately 96,000 square feet of enclosed building space, according to county tax records.
Baptists on Mission plans to use the facility for bulk storage of building materials and equipment, as well as a place to park some of its larger ministry vehicles such as mobile dental, health-screening, and feeding units. The site will also serve as a place to coordinate rebuilding projects throughout the region, with the ability to house and feed up to 80 volunteers at a time.
The Marion facility brings the number of Baptists on Mission rebuild centers in western North Carolina to six, joining existing locations in Black Mountain, Boone, Burnsville, East Flat Rock and Spruce Pine. Each facility is designed to house and feed volunteers as they work on homes in surrounding communities.
Officials said Helene rebuild work is expected to continue in western North Carolina for at least four to five more years. Like Baptists on Mission’s existing mission centers in Rose Hill, Red Springs and Shelby, the Marion facility is intended to become a permanent missions and ministry hub once Helene rebuilding work concludes, the organization said.
Camping World of Marion, which operated for years as Tom Johnson Camping Center, permanently closed in April 2025. Richard Brunson, executive director-treasurer of Baptists on Mission, opened Sunday’s program by recognizing the Tom Johnson family, whose name remains on the pavilion where the dedication was held.
“God, even all those years ago, was preparing this place — not just for all that happened when it was Camping World and Tom Johnson Camping World, but now and in the future,” Brunson said.
Brunson reflected on the weight of the anniversary alongside the day’s celebration.
“It was two years ago today that Helene devastated much of western North Carolina,” Brunson said. “This is a sad day in many ways. But after any disaster, I always think about Romans 8:28 — in all things God works for good.”
Will Kehler, McDowell County’s emergency services director, recalled meeting with a Baptists on Mission representative two weeks before Helene struck to discuss response scenarios if a catastrophic event were to impact the area. In the storm’s aftermath, Kehler said the county’s 911 center logged 760 calls for service, and Baptists on Mission and other nonprofits helped repair more than 550 homes in the first year alone.
“In the hours and days after Helene, the folks in the yellow shirts showed up,” Kehler said. “They didn’t come in just one or two truckloads. They came in caravans, and they have shown up every single day since.”
Marion Mayor Steve Little praised the ministry’s reputation not just locally, but nationally.
“When there’s a disaster, people say, ‘Let’s call Richard Brunson; let’s call Baptists on Mission,’” Little said. “The names Richard Brunson and Baptists on Mission are known throughout the United States as the preeminent, most thoughtful, most caring, most dedicated, fastest, best disaster relief organization anywhere.”
Mayor Iretha Hancock of the nearby Town of Old Fort said the recovery has restored hope that once seemed out of reach.
“Recovery seemed like an impossibility, but we know through Christ anything is possible,” Hancock said.
Pastors, ministry leaders and volunteers from churches across the region also attended Sunday’s dedication, a presence that Sharon Decker — senior advisor for long-term recovery with Gov. Josh Stein’s Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina — said reflects a pattern she has seen throughout the recovery.
“That is the call of the church to be the first in the community to offer a helping hand,” Decker said. “There is a critically important role for government to play in restoration and recovery. … But at the end of the day, the call of Christ on our lives is to be His hands and feet. And so I say, ‘Thank God that the churches in western North Carolina showed up first.’”
Decker said nonprofits have contributed an estimated $1.4 billion in help and support toward Helene recovery, alongside nearly $3 billion in state funding and $9 billion pledged federally. Only 56 families remain in FEMA-assisted rental housing, she said, as that program nears its end.
“Any is too many,” Decker said. “But the only way that has happened — that restoration — has been the nonprofits, the churches, the faith community that have worked with us through this process.”
The event concluded with a flag-raising ceremony featuring a large American flag donated by Camping World, honoring the facility’s history and heritage in the region. Oversized American flags have become a recognizable sight above Camping World dealerships nationwide, including several in North Carolina.
Two years after Helene brought volunteers to McDowell County, the flag now flies over a facility meant to keep them coming back.
___
This article appeared in the Biblical Recorder.
Share with others
