First Baptist Church of Hendersonville organized its first community church service after Hurricane Helene ripped through Western North Carolina.

The service was held on Sunday, Oct. 6, at 10:30 a.m. at Hendersonville High School's football stadium. Hundreds were in attendance, filling up the home side of the bleachers with some people sitting on the ground in front of and around the stage.

Justin Alexander, Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, said churches have been the first point of contact for many communities after the storm.

"The main connections I've been working with have been churches all across Western North Carolina," Alexander said. "And to see them become the central hubs of distribution in the counties is a beautiful thing. It is truly shining a light in the middle of darkness right now."

One family attending the service lost everything at their home in Bat Cave.

Aaron and Larissa Smith described the chaos the morning of the storm.

"We heard a very loud thud, and that was a couple-ton boulder that was in the room next to ours; it came and knocked the wall down in the bed we were supposed to be sleeping in," Aaron Smith said.

"And then obviously thousands of pounds of mud and all that poured into the house," he said.

They were with their two young children and had to hike 3 miles to be rescued by a helicopter and taken to safety because of the conditions of the roads.

"We are just here to praise God because he was faithful regardless of the storm," Larissa Smith said.

First Baptist Church has also been a distribution center for many in the community.

They have coordinated volunteers and supplies from their church on Fifth Avenue in downtown Hendersonville.

Alexander said they now have a new motto formed after all the support, "Come On WNC."

"Whenever we would hear of people wanting to bring supplies to us, us and the staff would be like, come on, that's great," Alexander said. "And then it turned into people wanting to volunteer, more trucks were wanting to come and we said come and serve Hendersonville come on, come on to us."

Alexander is making the phrase and logo available to anyone who wants to use it.

Distribution at the church also continues on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

 

STORY & PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC 13 WLOSHundreds attend community church service at Hendersonville High School (wlos.com)