Dear Operation Anchor, 

The young men y’all sent here to help us have left, and though I beseeched them to rest, they were going to do some work at the camp after leaving here! Sadly, we didn’t get to interact with them nearly as much as we would’ve liked, because we had a full schedule each day. 

When [Hannah] called to tell me someone was coming out to look at what could be done to help us, I didn’t get my hopes up too much, because we had had more than a few people say they would help and then be unable to follow through-and I totally understood and felt they were needed more elsewhere. But then she called and had a crew coming the next day!  

How to best let them help was a challenge, because the issues we had were complicated and needed specific skills, such as the HVAC system and the chimney. I hated to ask them to work on the retaining wall because I felt it was back breaking work that we could do ourselves over a (long) period of time, and it also was an enigma as to how to proceed: the girls and I with help had dug out a dozen cubic yards of dirt and still the wall couldn’t be righted—and then the ground froze. So I left it alone to focus on the pressing needs of heat and septic and the roof’s integrity. Your call came when I was discouraged with the daunting tasks, all undone still—over five months post Helene. But somehow God arranged for these caring young men to come, and He even granted them fair weather! I asked my friend Claude to offer his ideas as to how to go about the job, and he came a couple days and worked with them. They surely blessed him during those arduous hours and encouraged him to rededicate himself to God.   

Somehow, miraculously, the crew dug tons of dirt,  righted the wall, replaced rotting ties (beyond the part we had intended to work on-the entire rest of the wall) and rebarred them, righted the legs of the back deck, re-anchored the wall, and replaced tons of dirt-without any machines. They even swept the deck and neatly folded the tarps. The estimate we got from a local company to fix 35 feet of the wall was $10k. Beyond cheerfully performing this laborious work, I heard they had to take turns keeping the cat happy, as she wasn’t to be left out, and we noticed our Yorkie Maple was sad to see them go. 

In every interaction with these precious ones, they made us feel like we were doing them a favor for giving them an opportunity to serve us.  

Operation Anchor made this beautiful blessing possible. Arranging for the crew to come, providing a camp, bringing them food and supplies and having planned ahead for it to happen, surely took ingenuity and insight. The compassion shown by OA renewed our spirits encouraged us immensely.

I feel unworthy of all of this. I have never known such a humbling experience as what we have been shown through Helene’s effects. I would go through it again if that’s what it takes to make us like our Savior. … 

When we look at this wall, as it stands stoutly to protect our home, we will always remember these young men and the herculean task they accomplished as the hands and feet (and aching backs!) of Christ.  

“I have set watchmen upon your walls, O Jerusalem, every day and every night. They shall never be silent day or night; you who remember the LORD, do not be silent.” Isaiah 62:6