By William VanSant
This
summer I was led to help with a problem at Cobb Street Ministries. An extraordinary lady, Carol Pascal
heads up this facility which provides assistance to young women and others in
distress. “Miss Carol” takes each
situation as an opportunity to provide tangible assistance but she also answers
a call to bring each client to know Jesus. She has led countless people to know Christ and is a
blessing to all who know her.
Burnt Hickory supports this ministry as does many other Churches in the
area. Two of our members are on
the board of directors - Susan Waggoner and James Watkins.
Recently,
a Burnt Hickory Baptist member, Donna, was teaching a course at Cobb Street and
learned that a basement apartment had flooded. Miss Carol needed this space for people in need. Donna told her husband Greg and they
made a preliminary effort to amend the situation, but it quickly became
overwhelming. Greg got the “Band
of Brothers” involved and so Duane, Jerry, Greg and I started to rip out sodden
sheetrock, molding and doors.
Several teenagers from Roswell Street Baptist happened by so they were
enlisted to take the trash to the dump.
Linda from West Ridge became involved with cleaning and painting. She also called on Bruce, a friend in
the environmental remediation business who set up several fans and large
portable dehumidifiers. Meanwhile we
determined that two problems had caused the flood. A lavatory with no overflow had been left on and a spigot
next to the building flowed overnight.
These problems were corrected.
Up to
this point I felt I had the situation well in hand and that I
could quickly remedy the situation - but as days passed, water continued to
trickle into the basement, thus frustrating efforts to repair the damaged walls
and doors. Then with prayer
and help from my brothers I came to realize that this was God’s project and
that He - not me - had been guiding helpers and providing solutions. I humbly became His servant and
listened for his guidance.
We then
traced the incoming waterline and suspected that this might be the
problem. Tim sent Les and three
helpers over and they removed the sidewalk and found a small leak under the
concrete where ersatz polybutylene tubing joined good copper pipe. At this point, it was obvious that God
was in charge and anxious to complete the job so Miss. Carol could have the
apartment. The leak was repaired
using a unique fitting suggested by Kenney, a plumber who seemed to appear from
nowhere when we were in the plumbing supply store. Guess what! He
is a Christian and lives practically next door to Cobb Street. Miss Carol now has his number for
emergencies.
Duane,
Greg, his sons and I installed and finished sheetrock, doors and trim purchased
with the help of Burnt Hickory and a generous discount from Lowe’s. Remember Linda from West Ridge? She, along with her two daughters and
her 80 year old mother painted the entire apartment, buying paint and supplies
personally. As I was leaving, men
from Roswell Street Baptist were moving in donated furniture and accessories. A needy family quickly moved in and
will stay until they get back on their feet.
Who but God working through us could have made this possible?
! Cor. 12.6 “There are different ways God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work through all of us”
Here is a photo of Bill working on another project in Jasper Georgia in 2007. Praise the Lord for men who will say yes to stepping out and doing something for others.
