On June 23rd of this year 10 inches of rain fell over a 12 hour period in Richwood, West Virginia and the surrounding areas. The small town of 2000 residents is located in a valley through the center of which runs the Cherry River. The water that ran down from the mountains and the rising river waters flooded the town with up to ten feet of water for three days. In total 26 people were killed in the flooding that affected parts of West Virginia and Virginia –including at least 9 killed in Richwood.
Over the weekend of September 23rd, eleven members and friends of Christ Memorial travelled to Richwood to see what they could do to help. The group included Elise and John Jordan, Marjay Laske, Philip Davies, Chad Board, Bill and Lauren Anderson, Peter and Tammy Sandborn, BJ Walworth, and Scott Hoffman.
Partnering with local non-profits Advocacy Workcamps and Rebuilding Richwood, members of the group spent Friday putting down new subfloor in a flood affected home and Saturday was spent hanging new drywall and tearing down a chimney in another home. The group worked very hard and got much accomplished in the two short days.
Elise and Marjay also worked hard to keep the group well fed as they remained at Richwood Presbyterian Church (where much of the group stayed) during the day to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for all. No one was left hungry.
All who participated in the trip enjoyed the time spent working as well as in fellowship with one another.
The town of Richwood will be in need for quite a while, so there is already conversation about a return trip. Please consider joining the group the next time a mission experience like this is planned. You won’t regret it!
