A miscommunication led to what an assessor and a chaplain for a South Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief crew serving in Eastern Kentucky are calling a “providential appointment.”
Kerry Sartain and Chaplain Chip Wood, both of Seneca, were part of a Beaverdam Baptist Association unit that did “mud-out” and clean-up work in McDowell, Ky., and the surrounding area during the first week of August. On one morning, Sartain was sent by mistake to a home that already had been assessed, and Wood, a recently retired family physician, accompanied him.
“The assessor I was working with that day [Sartain] wasn’t even supposed to be at her house, but due to a minor miscommunication, we went there anyway, as the Lord had planned it,” recalled Wood, who is a member of Crosspoint Church in Clemson.
The homeowner, Rita Vance, had injured her foot, and was in need of medical attention. She has advanced vascular disease from diabetes, explained Wood, and recently had undergone a surgical procedure.
“She stepped out of her mobile home into flood waters,” Wood said. The waters, evidently, were contaminated by diesel fuel or fuel oil, and her foot needed medical attention, explained Wood.
“We were able finally to convince her to seek treatment at the hospital ER where her vascular surgeon works,” he said. Vance told Sartain and Wood that many times she had to choose whether to buy groceries or her medicines. But after praying with her, she agreed to go to the next county, where she would be evaluated.
“We followed up with her the next day,” Wood said. “She was relatively unchanged, but in considerable pain from the infected foot, which was not getting adequate blood supply.”
As for Vance’s home, her trailer had a few inches of water inside that had rushed in her back door as she opened it to check on the water level. All of her subfloor and insulation suffered water damage, as well as her porch, Wood reported.
Sartain, a member of Utica Baptist Church, did an assessment of her home, which was deemed outside the scope of the team’s capabilities. “Her home would be uninhabitable once the necessary deconstruction was done, and she has nowhere else to live,” Wood added.
Still, she — like everyone else that the Beaverdam Association team encountered — was appreciative of the help and concern they offered. “Disaster Relief has been extremely welcome in the community,” Wood noted. “The people are overwhelmed with gratitude,” he said. “Some can’t believe we are all volunteers and serving at our own expense.”
The Eastern Kentucky flood was Wood’s first deployment as a disaster relief volunteer. He took a chaplaincy training workshop offered by SCDR three years ago, which has led him to another sense of divine appointment.
“Short-term medical mission work has been something I have always been involved with,” said Wood, who for the last 10 years practiced with the Oconee Medical Center. “After a trip to Haiti working with a field cholera hospital and observing chaplains ministering to the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of people, I sensed God prodding me to serve in that capacity.”
“We are grateful for Kerry and Chip seeing an opportunity and responding to God in obedience to serve Ms. Vance,” said Susan Peugh, director of South Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief. “God is always at work if we will pay attention and join Him where He leads us.”