Many Pitch in to Help Others in Need
By Jim Nieman
Churches, a parachurch ministry, and a Christian college in the Dallas-Fort Worth area were among those that suffered through severe winter weather the past two weeks that continues to have ramifications across the state of Texas. The storms and widespread power outages caused suffering that included deadly accidents, frigid living conditions, bursting water lines, and lack of drinking water.
“[Texas] learned that our roads, power grid, and water lines aren’t built for extended sub-freezing temps,” said Dave Toney, executive pastor of Compass Christian Church, one of several ministries in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area we contacted for this article.
And while power has been restored for most, news outlets report an unknown number of Texans face damage to their homes and businesses that will take weeks or months to repair and cost billions of dollars.
“Last week was a bad dream on steroids,” said Phil Claycomb, pastor of Central Christian Church in Richardson, Texas. “Following all the uncertainties of the past year, with the isolating effects of COVID and social distancing, this past week felt like an added insult.”
Jeff Wilhoit, executive vice president of Pioneer Bible Translators, said his ministry was fortunate to have not lost power. Still, the situation was far from great, as at least one member of the PBT family had to deal with a burst water pipe and another “had nine of their neighbors lose their attached townhomes to a fire.”
Dallas Christian College, meanwhile, experienced rolling electrical blackouts, but had access to running water whenever the power was up and running; the college never needed to resort to boiling water, said president Brian D. Smith.
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COMPASS CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Colleyville, Texas)
“We quickly learned that many were looking to our church, whether they called Compass home or not, to help them through the crisis,” Dave Toney said.
Early in the emergency, immediately after checking on staff members, Toney said the multicampus church “began calling widows, single parents, and senior citizens from Compass to make sure they had heat and food.”
“Our outreach team then quickly developed a one-stop online location where people could either tell us their needs or offer to help,” he said. “The team also set up an emergency needs center at one campus which had a generator for internet and WiFi.”
The most urgent request was for firewood and help with heating.
“People began donating and picking up firewood, propane, and blankets immediately. People with four-wheel drive pickups began showing up to deliver supplies” that eventually included donated water. The church met needs for people across the community, he said.
“One of our senior staffers delivered six loads of firewood to his neighborhood because they were without power for almost 100 hours. None of those people had a previous connection to Compass.”
When a thaw began late in the week, “we had multiple water pipes break at two different campuses. Staff and volunteers showed up immediately to assess damage, begin the cleanup process, and get the buildings ready so we could host worship services on the weekend.”
Many communities either lacked running water or had boil advisories.
“We were able to partner with an organization to distribute a semi-truckload of water to those in need,” Toney said. “We delivered water to at least 12 neighborhoods and five schools last week.” Other people stopped at the church to pick up water.
“We are continuing to see countless stories of people stepping up to help their neighbors, community, and Compass family,” Toney said.
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CENTRAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Richardson, Texas)
“Last year just seems to keep going and going and going!” lamented Phil Claycomb.
Upon arrival of the severe winter weather about two weeks ago, Claycomb said, people initially seemed content to stay home and try to “ride it out.” That was especially the case after the 133-vehicle, chain-reaction accident on a Fort Worth highway Feb. 11 killed six people. “[That wreck] discouraged many who might have ventured out onto the roads.”
Not only was that wreck discouraging, Claycomb said, but nearly everything that has occurred since the arrival of winter’s harshest weather has fed into that sentiment. Things like rolling blackouts that didn’t work out as planned, bare store shelves, and the state’s water situation (“run water . . . stop running water . . . boil water”).
“The overall effect was that of a low-level paralysis,” Claycomb said. “What to do? What not to do?”
Central Christian Church, located northeast of Dallas, has had electricity and heat throughout the disaster, he said, and so it was decided “the church building would be open to members and their friends and neighbors.”
“Several [people] elected to stay overnight. Older members were picked up and ferried to the church building. Volunteers stayed onsite throughout the event to ensure hot coffee and meals were available.
“Some people just came in and stayed long enough to warm up before venturing back to their frigid homes. They came in cold and isolated and left warm, full, and refreshed. . . .”
Shepherds connected with their groups, he said, and volunteers checked on every member of the church.
“The net effect of the storm was to feed people’s already frayed fears, frustrations, and isolation,” Claycomb said. “Fortunately, the net effect of the congregation’s response was to speak calming words of faith, assurance, and to provide a much-needed sense of community.”
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PIONEER BIBLE TRANSLATORS (Dallas)
While PBT’s building didn’t lose power, “the snow and ice led us to close our offices for a week for safety reasons,” Jeff Wilhoit said. “Those who had internet were able to continue working from home because of our experience built up during the pandemic.”
“Some of our staff in Dallas went without power for a few days with outside temperatures close to zero,” he said. “Several staff members took in others who were without power and responded to needs in their community. Many of our team were involved in response to needs through their local churches.”
The PBT worker whose neighbors’ townhomes burned has “been present during and after the fire to help with moral and financial support.”
“This weather event reminded us how vulnerable we truly are and how we are completely dependent on God all of the time, even when we are not cognizant of it,” Wilhoit said. “Even those of us who have lived overseas without reliable electricity and water discovered how easy it is to take these [things] for granted.”
As last week ended, PBT president Greg Pruett led 72 domestic and international workers in an online time of prayer as part of their regular chapel.
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DALLAS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
“Our most significant challenges [at DCC] were keeping dormitories warm, feeding students from our cafeteria, and providing electricity to vital medical equipment for a faculty member recovering from a severe case of COVID-19,” said Brian D. Smith. The faculty member serves with her husband. who is resident director of the men’s dorm.
The college’s director of facilities was able to obtain several small generators, Smith said, one of which was dedicated to powering the staff member’s medical equipment whenever the electricity went out. (The couple eventually moved temporarily to a hotel but has since moved safely back to the college.) The other generators were used to power space heaters in some of the school’s common areas.
“DCC had several days of rolling blackouts that sometimes lasted for several hours at a time,” Smith said. “Unlike many locations in Texas, we had access to running water when the electricity was on and never was under a boil advisory.”
“Only a little over half of our campus residents were on campus before the storm hit, while many remained at home, so it reduced some of the burden on things like our cafeteria.”
The school’s food services director had to “fly solo,” Smith said. The kitchen has gas equipment, but Smith said he has heard the director may have needed to use a miner’s light when the electricity was off.
“Our only known damage was a [water] pipe break in one of our gym locker rooms,” Smith said. “Several students and staff were quick to respond to both shut off and clean up the water.”
The pipe damage appears minimal, but the school is in a serious hurry to make the repair since Dallas Christian is scheduled to host the NCCAA Division II regional basketball tournament this week.
“This was a hectic time in Texas,” said John Derry, DCC’s vice president for academic affairs. “I was to present some workshops at the Association for Biblical Higher Education conference last week in Florida but had to cancel the trip and present them by Zoom.”
Derry’s workshop topic? Crisis management.
“Pretty ironic,” he said.
Jim Nieman serves as managing editor of Christian Standard.
Images courtesy of Compass Christian Church’s Facebook page.
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