While much critical relief during natural disasters comes from central planning, other help can also be valuable. Creative Christians can do wonders using their gifts and the loving spirit God gives them. When Hurricane Florence bore down on the North Carolina coast in September, the Six Brothers Disaster Relief Team were gripped by a desire to put legs on the Reformed faith and run to the rescue instead of away from the storm.

The Dorr brothers grew up in Iowa, where windstorms and tornadoes are common. Their parents encouraged the family to help others in times of need. Out of this common experience came the Six Brothers Disaster Relief Team. Their scriptural theme is James 2:18: “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.”

God works through His providences and our experiences. Our experiences of using our gifts work to prepare us for more the next time. Last year Six Brothers felt God’s pull when Hurricane Harvey struck Houston. They were able to help many people and also learned how to prepare even better for future storms.

This is a story of gifts and love. Gifts from God, abilities to work, and love for people—especially other brethren in Christ. The two senior Dorr brothers are Aaron, an Orthodox Presbyterian Church member from Iowa, and Chris, who is a part of the Southwest Ohio RP Church north of Cincinnati. They want to prepare even more for next year with a ready-to-go relief truck.

The brothers knew from experience that it was most opportune if they could arrive before the storm; so, when everyone else was trying to escape the Wilmington, N.C., area, they were arriving. When entering storm zones like that, they have to survive with little help because most stores and gas stations are closed. They must have their own store of gasoline and diesel, and their vehicles need high clearances so they can move through deep waters and heavy debris. As in Houston, they found a local Orthodox Presbyterian Church to serve as their home base. In this case, it was Trinity OPC in Wilmington. It wasn’t easy, but they found a rental company that delivered a skid-loader (a medium-sized heavy machine with a scoop on the front) to the church just before Florence made landfall. This would be essential to quickly clear trees from roads and properties.

They rose early on the storm’s first morning to see it beating the area. It had stalled on the coast. Most areas were getting buried in tropical rains. The strong winds, combined with the sodden soil, guaranteed many fallen trees.

Their modus operandi is to start from their base and work outward, clearing roads so that emergency vehicles can have access. Liability laws tend to restrict the municipal crews. Firemen told Aaron and Chris of having to watch buildings burn down because they were not allowed out. But Six Brothers Disaster Relief was under no such constraints. So even while the storm beat on Wilmington, the brothers and their friends were clearing critical roads for access. They opened up 23 major roads in Wilmington as Florence’s eye passed over. From pictures, readers can see the chaos of downed trees, which made passage impossible. But Six Brothers Disaster Relief was prepared with a dozen chainsaws and extra chains. The skid-loader made mincemeat of the clearing activity. Firefighters and police were greatly aided.

One of Six Brothers’ key plans is to get a list of church members from whatever NAPARC congregations they help. They then aim to reach those homes and any nearby families who obviously need help. They pass out calling cards from the local Reformed churches, tying their diaconal labors with the visible church. This enables the families to identify with the relief work and link Six Brothers’ benevolence to the local Reformed church.

In the aftermath of such storms, relief companies are scarce, and their costs are high! Every family Six Brothers helped saved three to five thousand dollars, which is how much it would cost to pull limbs off houses and cut up fallen trees strewn about their yards. In most cases the families had no luxury of time either. But with Six Brothers moving as fast as they could, and motivated by the love of the brethren, the church families and their neighbors were made functional almost before the storm was finished.

Helping the old and infirm was especially touching. One 94-year-old woman saved between four and five thousand dollars in damage repair. She went from feeling completely helpless by Florence’s savagery and being marooned at home to being free to drive her car for food and aid as soon as it was available.

The Dorrs remarked on how gratifying it was to help one of the church’s newest members. This man had been devastated by Harvey in Houston the year before and had moved to Wilmington for relief. Now his property was devastated by another hurricane! He was undone until this team appeared and totally cleared his property.

Another home was occupied by a widow and her daughter. They were suddenly greeted by a team of men from RP and OP churches who did what they could not—clearing all their chaos—with smiles and prayers!

Certain threats greet such relief workers. Since fuel was scarce, they could be targets of robbery and assault. They have seen this happen to others. Aaron has been a policeman, and the others are trained for encountering danger. As they were rescuing a doctor’s office from flooding—pumping out 15,000 gallons per hour from his basement—the doctor sounded an alarm. His drug cabinets had been broken into! The men had to halt their salvage effort until they had scoured the 60-room building for robbers. When they finished, the doctor estimated that they had saved him tens of thousands of dollars of ruined product—by saving them from the rising water.

The Southwest Ohio RPC rejoices in the Dorr family’s labors. We love the idea of full-orbed Calvinists being merciful to helpless people and providing this relief for free. When homes are found submerged in water, Six Brothers Disaster Relief knows how to rip out wallboard and insulation to above the water line and sanitize what’s left so that the home is immediately ready for companies like ServiceMaster to begin reconstruction in a mold-free environment. These relief efforts take a week out of one’s life; but how well spent is that time. Hardly anything beats helping the helpless in the name of Christ.

Neighbors of these church homes were also helped, building wonderful relationships between the OPC families and neighbors. If Six Brothers was close, they were ready to help any who called for help. Disasters provide the perfect environment for lowered suspicions between people and honest, thankful conversations.

In the end, a seven-man team aided 37 desperate church families plus their neighbors. Three hundred seventy-four man-hours were donated for the glory of God. Twenty-three city streets were cleared of onerous debris.

Those wanting further information can contact the Witness for email addresses. Six Brothers will be 501(c)(3) soon and is looking to purchase satellite phones for their next effort. They plan to have a greater capacity for fuel and energy generation.

Dr. R.E. “Dick” Knodel is pastor of the Southwest Ohio RPC in Mason, Ohio.