Pastor Kork Moyer, who not only leads the Still Waters Grace Brethren Church and ministry to the homeless in Pottstown, PA, but also is the Northern Atlantic District coordinator for the FGBC, has been personally affected by the flooding in the east. Here are edited excerpts from two of his recent e-mail updates:
We are under water. The Schuylkill River overflowed into our neighborhood.
We were evacuated, and we spent our time from 6:00 am till around 1:00 pm playing “Beat the Clock,” removing items from our house (my guitars are safe), packing overnight stuff, turning off power and gas, moving as much furniture as we could to the second floor, watching as our basement filled with water from the floor drains, and scrambling to help secure St John’s (where we meet for Tabernacle). We were able to salvage all of the furniture and stuff that was collected for the family that was burned out this past week too.
We are safe, and we keep telling ourselves, “it’s only stuff.” I am always reminded about folks with terrible—truly life-threatening situations, that make this inconvenience pale, in comparison.
Only this past Sunday, I spoke about the giants in our lives. In home church this week we were going to talk about how scripture always moves us to an uncomfortably dependent place from a human standpoint. So, here we are… trying to walking the talk, and finding ourselves in need too.
We stayed with Missy’s parents last night, but we are going back to the area today to see the damage in the area, and to our home.
God has given to us the responsibility of loving our neighbors in a terrible time. Please pray for us as we move forward. In all too many ways, we don’t know what to do next, but God has given us some really good gifts already.
A second message from Kork, dated today (Friday, 30 June) includes the following:
Well, today we begin.
There was a meeting at our firehouse last night that informed us what to do next, and what to expect moving forward. Our township is run by great, knowledgeable folks who pulled out all the stops.
We cannot go back into our home to live until we pump out the water, have an electrician and a plumber okay things, and have the code enforcement officer inspect for structural damage.
Once that is completed, they will turn the utilities back on and we can stay. But up to that point there is a ton of work to do and we don’t know how much all of this is going to cost.
The damage was primarily to our basement and its contents which pretty much filled, so we are talking water heater, furnace, electrical panel, and cleaning up supplies (the water is of course contaminated with sewage and fuel).
Our garage was submerged too, and there was less tossing around of its contents than in our basement which was like a tornado hit it.
Some folks offered help from my previous email, and we are glad to accept it. We need to do all of the above before we can clean out the basement, and our insurance company adjuster also needs to shows up. After all of this, we need help cleaning, and currently we need to move the furniture back onto the first floor from the higher floors. I guess today we can begin cleaning up so if you are available please come.
This will continue through the weekend and into next week (I believe). There is a problem with letting “non-residents” into the area because they are very serious about security. So if anyone comes to help, plea se call me on my cell phone so that I can escort you in. The number is (215) 480-5253.
We are not only concerned for our own property, but that of our neighbor’s, and once we are finished, there is plenty of need. Looking only to our own church responsibilities, we have currently five buildings to take care of… 1) the Tabernacle (Parish House), 2) St John’s Church, 3) St John’s Parsonage (where Pastor Folks lives), 4) our home, and 5) our garage. After all of that, there are plenty of neighbors that could use our help.
I don’t know how much this will cost, and since this happened to me personally, I am a bit unnerved asking for monetary help. Maybe it’s pride, maybe embarrassment, but there is a ton of need; physical labor and monetary help. We are asking that if you consider helping monetarily, you can make those donations through our website at http://www.besidestillwaters.net/contributions.html or make checks payable to Still Waters, adding “Flood Relief” to the memo line. For those who want to help with labor, we will begin cleanup today.
We truly appreciate your prayers!
Peace,
Kork
Still Waters – Surely, goodness and mercy will follow…
256 South Hanover Street Pottstown, PA 19465-7022
www.BesideStillWaters.net PastorKork@besidestillwaters.net
tel: 610-970-2444 fax: 484-363-4017