Our Substack-Funded Missionary Trip to Camp Greene: Devastation in Greeneville, Tennessee

Day 1: Departing and Arriving. To family and Substack Donors: Thank You! You will see HOW MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE ONE PERSON CAN MAKE! Shared Google Doc: http://bit.ly/3UvqkUH

We SPEAK LIFE to all those STILL affected by Hurricane Helene and Milton! And we will not forget about you and all your needs to rebuild your homes & your lives! Hang in there! Help is on the way!

We received funds from sweet Substack donors to help with hurricane recovery efforts, and after filling a trailer with goods, we put more donations of food and supplies in our 2007 camper.

Donations from You, Our Substack Readers and Family Members!

THANK YOU!

Our sights were set on Greeneville, Tennessee, which is very eastward TN, about 1.5 hours from more tragedy in Asheville, West North Carolina.

We felt God was calling us 🙌 to go visit Jeff Melton at Camp Greene!

Camp Greene Website: https://www.campgreenetn.org/

*** Shipping Location for Donations ***

ATTN: Jeff Melton

4555 Asheville Hwy

Greeneville TN, 37743

*** Destination for Volunteers ***

Call Jeff first: (423) 972-2747

4704 Asheville Hwy

Greeneville TN, 37743

---

Donations from TH Rogers Hardware

Once we knew where we were going and had your donations packed, there was more room to pack up some more building and camping supplies.

Our local hardware store, TH Rogers, donated nails, cast iron skillets for campfires, portable heaters, extension cords, tarp, and much more.

One employee pulled out his credit card and bought our full shopping cart! We went back for more, and they donated more!

People were IN TEARS!

Getting Ready to Go

We have a flatbed trailer that we thought would be better used in relief efforts. Its lights worked with Ed’s truck but we had to take the camper so we could not only sleep in it if we got tired while driving, but to cook from it and have a supply of food and water, if needed.

(And if you know me, I would much rather eat my own food than eat anywhere else.)

After packing the camper and before loading the trailer, guess what? The brake lights didn't work.

Night was approaching. We were still anxious to get on the road.

Correctly fixing it would take another hour. Ed could also exteriorly Jerry-rig brake lights and bypass the system, as he diagnosed the problem: a blown fuse.

What a letdown, as we had planned to leave the trailer with Jeff for hauling and construction efforts. We said to ourselves,

“Well, we can always fix it when we get back, and then deliver it with more goods next time.”

We put 4 large bins of Ed’s tools on a storage rack behind the camper, and the rest inside the camper with us. We were crowded, but it wasn't bad.

Off we went!

Ed pulled out. As we headed to fill the gas tank, I noticed that Ed’s neck had limited range of motion. He was stiff after loading everything without help.

While he got gas, I slipped into the driver's seat and drove the next 9 hours of the trip. It was 3 am when I stopped to sleep. Upon awakening, Ed drove almost the rest of the way.

The day was sunny, beautiful, and warm. I had never been to Tennessee. It was green everywhere. Lots of green grass, and hills and mountains that joyously boasted the bursting yellows, reds, oranges, and browns of autumn.

Even as we saw its beauty, we knew that this trip would also reveal its devastation. We knew it would be bittersweet, but the real pictures that would stay in our minds were those of the people.

While I had shipped some work boots to Jeff ahead of time, we stopped at Boot Barn to get some high-quality boots for workers in the field. For the upcoming cold weather, we added heavy socks and leather gloves. The women's boots were not waterproof, so we bought waterproofing and added to the gift by rubbing it on all those light-colored boots.

The boots came with a lifetime warranty, quite handy for any damage ever sustained. I think you can see the joy on our faces as we accomplished this fine $1,200 purchase!

Thank you to those who sent donations to our ministry! You can see it went to good use!

Our Arrival

We arrived around 4 pm. Jeff met us at the church warehouse. We also met Michael, who graciously helped unload everything. A volunteer named Michael took this pic for us, and he's also pictured later below, as we were departing.

Pictured with us is our dog, Buddha. Don't get mad because it's not a Christian name. He's named for his disposition as a pup. He was the runt, mellow, and rather uninterested in being hyper about anything. At 3 months, he almost died from Parvo. My daughter and I had to resuscitate him with fluids and feed him homemade chicken, rice, and pumpkin. He's a good boy.

We donated, along with others who added their packages: 4 large bins of power tools, 4,000 nails and building supplies, work boots, jackets, snow suits, thermals, gloves, hats, shoes, blankets, and even some knitting or crocheting yarn, seen above in the white bag with yellows and blues.

I organized the clothing and shoes by age, sex, and size, so no one had to organize it upon arrival (they were surprised, because people don’t usually think of that, but as an anesthesiologist by training, I always ‘look ahead’).

Do you know that feeling of bringing home “a BUNCH” of shopping, then once you get home, you see how little it was?

That's how we felt!

Behind us, you can see Camp Greene has a huge warehouse ready to hold pallets and pallets of water, clothing, tools, lumber, nails, power tools, as well as home goods, washers, dryers, stoves, and refrigerators for newly built or renovated homes that the Amish are building for those who lost everything. He has LOTS of room!

Our “huge” delivery seemed but a drop in a bucket; nonetheless, it was glorious to us and to them! They were sO happy! And there's plenty of room for more.

See what was behind our bags and boxes of goods:

There is plenty of room for more donated goods.

You can see there is plenty of room for more pallets of water.

⬆️ The city water had previously been contaminated by the hurricane and for weeks, all water had to be boiled. By the time we arrived, it was fine. But you can see that multiple palettes of cases of water are still needed for volunteers and residents in affected areas whose homes were filled with muddy waters.

Remember that people are minus virtually all their home goods; they have no blankets, pillows, dishes, paintings on the wall, no towels, sofas, lamps. Their jewelry and baby pictures got washed away. More on this in Part 2.

Many homes are still without water or power after Hurricane Helene, and while the first frost hit within the first week or so, we arrived at a time when the weather was sunny, warming up to about 73F.

The Camp Greene Facility for Volunteers

Camp Greene has room to sleep 100+, 10 camp sites with two power hookups, bunk beds, showers, and a commercial kitchen with dining to seat 100.

I love to cook. Jeff took us into the kitchen, and by now it was getting late. This was a Friday night and the weekly Amish team was readying to return to Pennsylvania so a new team could arrive on Monday.

We went shopping again, this time for basics: flour, sugar, spices, sauces, and everything for me to make beef molé and green chile molé chicken burritos that could be frozen for easy eating. We also got a Dutch oven, more propane, ponchos, gloves, some thermal mugs, and more.

The best part was those smiles!

These young men were up early and worked hard all day. We were very happy to make them feel like kings.

Here’s the picture I promised of Michael, who volunteers at Camp Greene. From your left to the right: Ed, Michael, and Jeff.

Then we parked our camper along a beautiful meadow that was most welcomed and enjoyed by our dog:)

And we slept.

STAY TUNED for PART 2, Touring the Devastation in Greeneville, Tennessee.

We are planning a trip back to Greeneville, and will go as soon as we generate enough funds to pull a trailer of goods. The estimated need is $10,000.00. Thank you.

---

Share Our Tweet: https://x.com/TheRebelPatient/status/1854542049959112937

Share Our Telegram Post: https://t.me/therebelpatient/580