It started last December with eleven inches of torrential rain. It ended with the Nehalem River swirling into the small town of Vernonia. Before the muddy water ebbed, it soaked homes, businesses, and churches.
CBNW’s Vernonia Community Church (VCC), situated above the worst of the flooding, lost only its furnaces, water heater, and stored supplies in their basement. However, many members, neighbors, and friends found their homes and belongings devastated by sludge – the mud, debris, wastes, and chemicals swept together and deposited by the river.
With Christmas only twenty days away, help poured into the 2200-resident community between Portland, OR and the coast. The National Guard, Governor Kulongoski, service organizations, and churches sent workers, supplies, clothes, money, and food. Pastor Grant Williams of VCC says, “I couldn’t keep track. My phone rang many times every day with offers of help.”
At least two CBNW churches joined the recovery effort. Sonrise Church of Hillsboro, OR sent workers and food, preparing hot meals every day for a month. They fed hundreds of people, meeting an immediate need after the flood. Hinson Memorial from Portland, OR took on a more long-term assist project. They adopted two Vernonia families with little or no insurance. They collected all the money needed to restore the homes and then sent crews to do the work. They are just now finishing the jobs.
Our churches, through CB Northwest headquarters, sent a generous check that allowed Vernonia Community to replace its furnaces and water heater, as well as give a money gift to all their attendees affected by the flood.
Incredibly, the help that stood out to Pastor Williams and all the other people in Vernonia came from a totally unexpected source. Somehow it seemed “normal” that churches, service organizations, and the government lend a hand. But none expected what Vernonia got from 200 volunteer prisoners.
“They worked for a month, tirelessly and whole-heartedly,” Pastor Williams said. “They arrived early, worked late, and always had a smile. They did the worst jobs, the yuckiest jobs, crawling in the mud.”
Jim Evernden who coordinated Hinson Memorial’s efforts said, “When we came to the homes that needed work, the prisoners had already stripped out the soggy carpets, sheetrock, and insulation.”
During that first month of recovery, the stereotype image of prison gangs, meanness, and violence got swept away with the mud and debris. In spite of their mistakes and rough lives, the prisoners came to serve. They took the lowly, undesirable jobs and didn’t complain.
“Every person who helped us deserves thanks that we cannot begin to give.” Pastor Williams says. “And for all those whose specific gifts we can’t remember, we want to say in writing, We thank you. But I guess I want something else too. I pray that God will give us opportunities as churches to serve as unexpectedly and as humbly as 200 prisoners did.”
