Helping hands: In wake of tornado, church does its Christian duty, coming to the aid of homeowner and church.
By Christopher Quinn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/26/08
The banging noise coming from the roof of Bertha Wise Jr.'s Cabbagetown house is pleasant to her ear.
It means the roof destroyed by the March 14 tornado that savaged Atlanta is being replaced, at no charge.
Teams of volunteers from metro Atlanta churches and agencies have cut up fallen trees (Wise lost seven), cleared streets, replaced windows and fed people since the tornado, and they are still making repairs.
Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church in Johns Creek adopted Wise and the Eastside Christian Community Pentecostal Church and are repairing the damage they suffered.
"If it wasn't for the churches and different organizations coming out, I don't know how we would have gotten this done," said Wise, who said she accidentally failed to pay her last homeowner's insurance premium.
The Pentecostal church was planning a move to a different building and also had let its insurance lapse.
About 60 volunteers from Mount Pisgah are helping reroof and repair the church's exterior and have planted flower beds.
The Rev. Richard Davis of the Pentecostal church said they are taking the tornado and the resulting help and renewed building as a direct message from on high.
"I think God spoke, and we are going to stay here," Davis said.
"And everybody in the community is asking us not to go. And so we will be here as long as God gives me life and I have the ability to speak."
Mount Pisgah, a church of about 8,000 members, has a team of about 60 trained volunteers who serve on its disaster response team.
Mike Vaughan, who heads the team, has years of work as a firefighter behind him. He said Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine attends Mount Pisgah and asked the church to consider helping with the tornado recovery efforts.
Vaughan estimated the church will spend $25,000 and an unknown number of hours helping.
"These volunteers spent their Saturdays and a lot of them spent their spring breaks there and they never get credit for it," Vaughan said.
http://www.ajc.com/living/content/printedition/2008/04/26/goodworks0426.html?cxntlid=inform_artr
