Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley (PMV) has approved a partnership with Raymond Presbyterian Church PCA in Raymond Mississippi to establish a Sheds of HOPE depot on the grounds of the church. The church has historic roots that go back to 1842. They have invited adjoining presbyteries to join them in this project. Now they are in the process of identifying deacons from each of their congregations to plan, promote, and resource this ministry.
The PMV Raymond Depot (RD), once up and operating, will provide a secure location in Central Mississippi to store relief supplies; provide disaster preparedness awareness and training; build Sheds of HOPE (SOH) kits; and resource PCA churches within Covenant Presbytery, Grace Presbytery, and the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley, primarily, in the timely marshaling of critically needed resources for communities suffering from a natural or man-made disaster. This is a huge development that should be celebrated, proving once again that strong leadership and God’s unction create ministry movement.
The RD includes a 1,700 sq. ft. dedicated warehouse (once the US Post Office) for SOH kit construction, an already in place loading dock, and dedicated areas to store relief supplies such as relief kits and equipment. Additionally, there are restrooms, showers, a kitchen, and an open room that can be used as a dorm for traveling teams that wish to overnight. The RD will also become a collection and transfer point for congregations to assist MNA Disaster Response when relief supplies are needed in areas outside of the region.
Please join Mission to North America in giving thanks for this amazing development. If you would like more information, or want to know how best to support Presbytery of Mississippi Valley in this project and how to serve please contact Steve Britton, MNA Disaster Response Sheds of HOPE Specialist at sbritton@pcanet.org He will put you in touch with the leadership team that is steering this project and available to speak with your congregation.
In 2016 Hurricane Matthew crushed South Carolina including the community of Mullins. MNA Disaster Response started relief efforts on multiple fronts including building Sheds of HOPE. After the initial relief efforts concluded Mullins Presbyterian Church asked MNA if we would help establish a permanent ministry site in the underserved community. MNA ShortTerm Missions came alongside the church and Mission Mullins was born. Take a look at this video to see what the Lord has accomplished; hopefully it will inspire you to launch ministry in your own community. We are available to assist you.
In addition, inside the video is another lovely story of a church launching ministry in the intercity at Inverness PCA in Dundalk Maryland. Thanks for watching this video, please give it a like if you enjoyed learning about these ministries.
Effective August 1, 2023 Sheds of HOPE has new leadership!!!
Dear MNA Sheds of HOPE supporters,
Thank you for praying with MNA Disaster Response as we searched for the best staff member to coordinate our Sheds of HOPE ministry (SOH). God has answered our collective prayers and provided a super talented individual to join our team! DE Steve Britton has agreed to step into the role of MNA Disaster Response Specialist, Sheds of HOPE. My expectation is that, with your help, Steve will be onboard by August 1, just in time for the most dangerous days of the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season. I am praying that you will consider joining Steve’s team with regular prayer and financial support.
Steve is a deacon at Delhi Presbyterian Church in Delhi, LA, a congregation united in love, trust, and mission with Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley.
Steve’s overall responsibility is to oversee, further develop, and expand the MNA Sheds of HOPE ministry, an important initiative of MNA Disaster Response. Since 2006 more than 1,822 Sheds of HOPE have been placed on the properties of disaster-crushed families; at today’s cost that is over $3,600,000. To know the complete history of SOH please click here.
Steve’s key areas of responsibility will be to:
- Refine SOH designs and construction methods.
- Develop readiness and rapid deployment methods.
- Develop regional and church-wide training initiatives.
- Develop strong relationships and sponsorships with suppliers.
- Further develop/refine appropriate methods of follow-ups with SOH recipients.
- Identify/develop SOH Key Leaders and regional construction teams andmanagers.
- Bring awareness and promote SOH among churches and presbyteries.
- Assist the MNA DR Facilitator in social, web-based, and IT resources development, relative to SOH, and their use.
- Work in partnership with fellow MNA DR Specialists, Assessment Teams, First Responders, Site Managers, and local church leadership.to integrate SOH into new responses.
The PCA has over 378,000 members in over 1,900 congregations across 88 presbyteries. MNA’s assigned responsibility is for direct assistance to those congregations within the U.S. and Canada.
As Steve begins connecting into the network he has his work cut out for him! Steve is joining MNA and is charged with raising his own support in a similar way, as other MNA staff. I commend him to you; please consider providing a startup gift designated for Steve and adding his ministry to your annual budget. Major disasters are happening more frequently and our workload assisting churches is full, so we are thankful that Steve will be in place soon.
The need is great for the type of leadership that Steve brings. Please welcome him as a worthy co-laborer in advancing God’s Kingdom. Please invite him to visit with your diaconate and missions committee. We consider it a privilege to have Steve in our leadership. You can reach Steve at sbritton@pcanet.org or at 318-348-3524.
We conducted a Sheds of Hope (SOH) kit building ‘tune-up’ July 10-14 at the MNA John Browne Family Disaster Response Center in Dallas TX. The purpose of the event was to reactivate the depot as a regional build site for SOH kits. Although the depot is full of a flurry of activity every week, it hasn’t been utilized to build SOH kits since John Browne’s faith became sight in 2020. The depot’s original purpose was to provide a secure temporary location in the Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex for local congregations to build SOH kits before we marshaled them to Houston TX after historic flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey crushed the city. But after the Houston response local leadership asked us to not abandon the ‘temporary’ site, but rather expand it as a regional depot. Go here to learn the history of the MNA John Browne Family Disaster Response Center.
The training was hosted by MNA Disaster Response Specialist Mark Becker, and Associate Specialist Rick Lenz who also serves as the Campus Manager. The training was led by DE Dick Forrester and a team from Lake Oconee PCA in Eatonton GA. Most of the participants came from congregations in the Dallas/Ft Worth area, but representatives from Plains PCA in Zachary LA also made the journey to take part in the refresher event. The Plains team has been regularly building SOH since their own community was flooded in 2016 when they saw firsthand the blessing that SOH are for displaced homeowners.
After our lovely coworker John Browne’s passing in early 2020 and the subsequent arrival of the pandemic, we mothballed large-scale SOH production at the facility while ramping up production at other locations in GA, TN, and LA. But our goal all along was to reactivate SOH production in Dallas; when the time was right we would get the band back together! But first, we wanted to finish the campus renovation and dedicate it to God’s Glory. First things first!!!
We have been working hard to standardize the production of SOH across the network of kit builders. Plans have been fine-tuned, materials lists perfected, assembly practices systematized, suppliers identified, stacking, shrink-wrapping, storage, and transportation fine-tuned, etc. In addition, we are working to implement a system to track each SOH from the day the first screw is driven all the way through the day it is assembled on a survivors property. This development, once operational, will make it much easier for the local PCA congregation to provide follow-up with the shed recipient.
The recent ‘tune-up’ was a wonderful time to gather together those who had formally built many SOH along with those who has never built a single SOH, and those who have been working with us to keep the ministry running strong and improve it even during the pandemic.
Seventeen individuals participated in the tune-up, which was a good number that insured each participant was able to receive one-on-one attention from the trainers. Four Sheds of HOPE were constructed during the event, bringing the inventory of sheds at the depot to 26 ready-to-ship, the greatest number we have ever had in Dallas!
Going forward the depot will be hosting quarterly SOH builds. We will reveal the dates for the next events soon, we invite your participation. Mission to North America Disaster Response has placed more than 70 Sheds of HOPE since last fall and 1,822 since we began this important work. At todays prices for materials that is an investment of more that $3,600,000, not a small number. If you would like to give a financial gift to help us to help more people, please contact Sherry Lanier at slanier@pcanet.org. To know how you can get involved with Sheds of HOPE please contact Steve Britton at sbritton@pcanet.org.
Silver lining (idiom) A Silver lining is a metaphor for optimism in vernacular English, which means a negative occurrence may have a positive aspect to it.
Silver lining (noun) A Silver lining is a sign of hope in an unfortunate or gloomy situation; a bright prospect.
On March 24, 21 people were killed when a EF-4 tornado slashed a 59 mile path across the Mississippi Delta. Silver City one of the hardest-hit communities, is located midway between Yahoo City and Belzoni, communities where the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) has a strong presence. Silver City is about 70 miles north of Jackson MS on US-49.
An equipped MNA Disaster Response (MNADR), in God’s providence, and without delay quickly mobilized our team and begin transporting Sheds of HOPE kits from our Rome GA warehouse to the Delta at the request of the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley’s Mission to North America Committee.
Each Sheds of HOPE kit weights about 1,500 lbs including shingles and the cinder-blocks that are used to support the shed when assembled on site. We normally transport 4 or 5 kits at a time, but when necessary we can transport 6 at a time. The combined weight of a trailer load of kits and the heavy-duty trailer is approximately 12,000 lbs total, but MNADR has the equipment to accomplish the task.
As soon as rescue teams cleared the area, MNADR sent Specialist Mike Kennamer to Silver City to meet the first load of Sheds of HOPE and to train presbytery leaders on best practices to safely and efficiently construct the sheds. The ole see one, do one, teach one method that is so effective. PCA teams from the presbytery began rotating into Silver City to set up the Sheds of HOPE on displaced homeowner properties. Each week MNADR would transport another load of sheds into Silver City, and within 2 months 42 Sheds of HOPE were constructed. Marty made at least 8 trips to Silver City.
Take a look at some pictures from our work in Silver City.
So far, Presbytery of the MS Valley-PCA teams running on the Gospel-fuel of love-driven sacrifice have constructed more than 40 sheds on survivor’s properties, a yeoman’s effort without question. Maybe you have heard, ‘Team work makes the dream work”. What really makes it happen is good leadership. The presbyteries efforts were led by a strong team including PCA Teaching Elders Bob Penny (African Bible College) and Richard Wiman (First PCA Belzoni), and Ruling Elders Todd Barrett (Madison Heights PCA), and Bob Bailey (First PCA Yazoo City). They have been working non-stop to facilitate the response through leadership, organization, volunteer coordination, resource development, and prayer focus. It has been a joy to work with these servants to marshal relief to impacted families in the Delta.
But the PCA didn’t do it alone, churches from all over came to assist, including a team from First Baptist Church of Calhoun City MS. Take a look at this video of the lovely team of servants assembling a Shed of HOPE, you will be encouraged by their joyful spirit as they render aid. Thank God for these servants.
The 2000 census indicated that Silver City was home to 337 people, 124 households, and 76 families. But by 2020 only 223 people lived there, a 33% decrease in population. Almost every household suffered catastrophic damage from the storm. Sheds of HOPE has constructed sheds for 42 of those families that were still living there at the time of the tornado. Or to say it another way, at least 33% of the families were assisted. This is no small number. In addition, a large number of chainsaw and debris cleanup teams have been assisting.
Keep praying for the folks in Silver City as they navigate the matrix while trying to return home. And pray for your Sheds of HOPE ministry. MNA has furnished approximately 65 Sheds of HOPE in the last few months to recovery sites in KY, MS, NC, and TN. Having Sheds of HOPE ready to deploy is a best practice. The 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season is here; please pray we will be successful in raising the funds necessary to replace the shed kits that we recently deployed. The cost for each shed kit is nearly $2,000 each. If you would like to help us please contact Sherry Lanier at slanier@slanierpcanet.org .
MNA Disaster Response and the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley, working together, were able to deliver practical help and HOPE to a hurting community. This HOPE is the Silver Lining for Silver City.
On January 28 a wonderful celebration was held in Dallas TX! MNA Disaster Response dedicated the MNA John Browne Family Disaster Response Center to the glory of God! Several area pastors took a part in the dedication service including Bill Lovell from MetroCrest PCA in Carrolton TX, Anton Heuss from Bethel PCA in Dallas TX, and Patrick Poteet from Christ Community PCA in Frisco TX. Pastor Poteet challenged us with a homily focused on delivering mercy to the tempest-tossed.
The service of dedication was faithful to recognize God’s continued blessing to MNA and remember John Browne’s huge contribution to these efforts. Arklie Hooten, MNA Disaster Response Director recounted that the cumulative reward of hard work by many of God’s people, over the long-haul, in the same direction, results in full harvest. Rick Lenz, the Depot Manger recognized all those who contributed the time, talent, and treasure to make the campus fully operational. Under his excellent leadership the depot’s inventory has grown to well over $1,000,000 of supplies, equipment and specialized mission-critical speciality trailers such as mobile bunkhouses and showers, skid-steer loaders, and huge generators capable of repowering church buildings when the power-grid gets knocked out.
Brief History of the MNA John Browne Family Disaster Response Center In August 2017, Houston TX was crushed by Hurricane Harvey; major portions of the metroplex were flooded and many communities served by the PCA were affected. MNADR began relief operations on multiple fronts. Large quantities of supplies, equipment and specialty trailers were transported from the Rome warehouse to support the PCA response. This required many days since Rome GA is approximately 800 miles from Houston TX and a two-day trip each way is required to safely transport supplies, equipment, and specialty trailers.
An early focus of our work in Houston was constructing Sheds of Hope (SOH) for displaced homeowners. This effort was led by John Browne and a team of volunteers. SOH are 8’x8’ high quality yard-barns that provide dry secure space for homeowners to store recovered personal property as well as rebuilding supplies. As of January 2023 MNADR has furnished more than 1,700 SOH (approximately $2,000,000 in cost) since we began this project in 2006. The PCA is the only denomination that is engaged in the large-scale provision of storage capacity for homeowners in disaster affected communities.
During the Houston response, congregations of North TX Presbytery sought to assist at a high level, although the majority of the impacted churches were more than three and a half hours away. John Browne recognized the huge logistical challenges and sought a temporary warehouse in the Dallas / Fort Worth area where local volunteers could prebuild SOH, which would then be marshaled to Houston for installation. Through John’s influence and friendship, the Williams Company and Mr Campbell Williams offered an area in one of the Williams Company warehouses in Dallas for our temporary use.
The partnership worked so well that that MNADR was asked by the Williams Company to not shutter the depot when the response concluded, but instead to further develop the depot to include prepositioned supplies, equipment, and large specialized mission-critical trailers. The Williams Company increased its partnership by providing the entire warehouse for our use. The Dallas Depot now boasts 10,000 sq ft of warehouse capacity in addition to ample secure outside parking for large, specialized trailers and equipment.
Rick Lenz led a dedicated team of volunteers over three years in renovating the depot. Generous donors have equipped the Dallas Depot with new mobile bunkhouses, mobile showers, enclosed delivery trailers, new skid-steer loaders and implements, etc. The inventory of supplies and equipment is growing.
The depot provides coverage for a 300-mile radius of Dallas TX. This area comprises 31,000,000 people and includes a large swath of TX, LA, OK, KS, MO, and AR. The ‘Dallas Depot’ has been named the MNA Disaster Response John Browne Family Disaster Response Center as a memorial to John Browne’s steadfast dedication and assistance in development of the depot. The MNA John Browne Family Disaster Response Center is dedicated to God’s Glory; we ask for His continued blessing as the resource is used to bless others.
Warehouse operations and Sheds of Hope are tools MNA Disaster Response can use to expedite relief to many hundreds, even thousands, of disaster disrupted families immediately after a disaster event. These and many other methods work together to reach many lives and propel people to recovery.
Thank you for your support and partnership in this ministry that allowed MNA to renovate and dedicate this vital resource!
If you would like to visit the Dallas campus and/or volunteer please be in contact with Rick @ rlenz@pcanet.org. If you would like to fund an upcoming improvement project please contact Sherry Lanier @ slanier@pcanet.org to learn about options. To learn more about Mission to North America Disaster Response and the comprehensive efforts to preposition mission-critical resources, please visit our warehouse and training center website.
On the evening of July 27, 2022, Rev. Jay Bennett, pastor of Neon Reformed Presbyterian Church (OPC) was asleep his family’s apartment, which is situated upstairs from the storefront church building, located on Kentucky Highway 317 at the center of town. His wife and daughter were visiting family in Georgia. Pastor Jay and his son, Cole, reported waking up to the sound of a flood warning coming through their phones. One of the first things they noticed after waking up was a banging noise in the front stairwell.
The sound, they soon discovered, was a small Jon boat that they stored in the stairwell. They found that it had floated to the top of the stairs and was banging against the apartment wall. Jay thought it wise to move the family’s car from the back of the church building to higher ground, but soon discovered that he would not be able to do so. Minutes later, Jay and Cole watched two family vehicles float down the river that had once been the main street through town.
Fleming-Neon is a former coal mining town located in southeast Kentucky. In fact, the building occupied by the church still has a coal company sign over the back door. The main roads in town run alongside two seemingly innocuous creeks, that come together just south of the church building. On most days you could walk across the creek without any trouble. Anyone in town would tell you that these creeks often flood, but the water rarely rises above the sidewalk. But the flood that occurred the evening of July 28 was different. There were places in town where the water reached as high as 8 – 10 feet. Water levels in Pastor Jay’s church reached over 6 feet.
As the Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s (OPC) disaster response team began its work in Neon, MNA Disaster Response Director, Arklie Hooten, reached out to OPC Disaster Response Coordinator, David Nakhla, with offers to help in any way possible. On August 3, MNA Disaster Response sent three staff members, Arklie Hooten (Director), Marty Huddleston (Logistics Specialist), and Mike Kennamer (Warehouse Manager) to Neon to deliver a mud out trailer and a mini-track loader, along with a trailer and associated implements. Arklie Hooten trained local church members and volunteers to operated the mud out trailer, which includes pressure washers, water tanks, and other equipment for flood remediation. Mike Kennamer trained the local team to operate a Bobcat mini track loader and to safely change implements and load and unload from the trailer.
In the months since the flooding, the PCA has sent a number of teams to minister to the people of Neon. As the work transitioned from clean-up to long-term recovery, Arklie offered the OPC up to 20 Sheds of Hope to be deployed and assembled in the Neon area.
On October 26-27, Mike Kennamer transported the first Shed of Hope from the Charles H. Jones Family Disaster Response Center in Rome, Georgia to Neon to train a team of volunteers to assemble the kits. This shed kit, built by Lake Oconee Presbyterian Church in Eatonton, Georgia, was constructed for the purpose of providing tool storage for the work teams.
Two weeks later, an OPC Disaster Response volunteer traveled to Rome to pick up an additional 6 sheds. These sheds, valued at $1900 each, were transported to Neon and assembled by volunteer teams.
The OPC has suspended the work in Neon until March, when they expect to open back up to volunteers and build more sheds. Please continue to pray for the people of Neon as they recover from the storm and for the church and the OPC as they continue to minister to those impacted by the floods.
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) enjoy a fraternal relationship through membership in the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC). One of the guiding principles of that relationship is that, ‘we will cooperate wherever possible and feasible on the local and denominational level in such areas as missions, relief efforts, Christian schools, and church education’. We have a long history of working with the OPC in relief efforts, and in every instance it has been joyful.
The PCA doesn’t have a congregation in Neon KY, but the OPC does. Neon Reformed OPC (mission), a lovely community of believers in downtown Neon was crushed by torrential rain and subsequent flooding on July 28 and then again on August 1.
The church physical plant was inundated with 7+ feet of flood water and when the water receded the church was left with 6 to 8 inches of mud throughout the entire building. On August 3 MNA Disaster Response staff transported a ‘mud-out’ trailer and skid-steer loader to Neon to standup the OPC’s relief efforts. The mud-out trailer is a self-contained rolling equipment depot designed specifically for such work. It contains commercial grade pressure washers, large water holding tank, generators, dewatering pumps, portable lighting, dehumidifiers, blower fans, etc. The skid steer is being used to move debris and mud.
Please keep praying for the OPC’s efforts in Neon. Pray especially for Pastor/Planter Jay Bennett and the lovely congregation. Pray for restoration and give thanks for the many opportunities to demonstrate God’s love to a community crushed by this storm and subsequent flood. Pray “….that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints” — Romans 15:31
To know more, please visit https://opcdisasterresponse.org to get the latest information and learn about ways you can help.
On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida struck New Orleans. This was 16 years to the day that Hurricane Katrina devastated this same city. This video tells the story of three PCA churches affected by Ida and the quick and loving response of MNA’s Disaster Response Ministry!
Thanks for watching this video, please give it a like if you enjoyed learning about our response in NOLA. Doing so will send us a signal that you would like to see more of this type of content.
MNA Disaster Response is deploying Sheds of Hope in Sevier County TN in response to the recent wildfires. Staff are loading sheds at the MNA Charles H. Jones Family Disaster Response Warehouse tomorrow and will begin assembling the sheds this Saturday April 16, 2022.
The Hatcher Mountain fire began Wednesday, March 30 in Sevier County TN in the Wears Valley Community and burned nearly 2,500 acres and incinerated 219 homes. This is the area just west of Dollywood, a popular theme park, and short distance from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the nation’s most visited national park with more than 14 million visitors each year. Further to the west in Seymour another fire consumed another 700 acres and burned more structures. Thankfully no one died as a result of the fires, but several firefighters and a few civilians were injured battling to bring the blazes under control.
After the fires were contained and it was safe to enter the area, Evergreen Presbyterian Church Senior Pastor Wes White reached out to MNA Disaster Response asking for help, specifically for MNA Disaster Response to deploy Sheds of Hope (SOH). Evergreen PCA is lovely community of believers located in Sevierville TN, the mountainous county-seat of Sevier County. The county also includes Gatlinburg TN and Pigeon Forge TN, well known destinations for folks seeking recreation and fun in the beautiful Smoky Mountains.
MNA was ready to respond and quickly put together a plan with Evergreen leadership. Volunteers from several churches will descend on Sevier County on Saturday to assist Evergreen Presbyterian Church deliver a strong measure of God’s Shalom to this devastated community. The following congregations are mobilizing to help.
- Evergreen PCA Sevierville TN
- Covenant PCA Oak Ridge TN
- Redeemer Church of Knoxville PCA Knoxville TN
- First PCA Crossville TN
- Restoration Presbyterian Church PCA Dacula GA
Please pray for final planning. We are transporting the sheds and tool trailer from our Rome GA warehouse, and staff from AL, FL, and TN to train volunteers how to assemble the sheds. Regional Specialists Mike Kennamer and Keith Perry will train and supervise the teams during the first builds.
Please pray for this opportunity to assist the Wears Valley Community and Evergreen Presbyterian Church. Pray for good weather this Saturday, and for safety for the workers. Pray for MNA Disaster Response and Sheds of Hope as sheds and equipment are transported from GA into the area. Most of all, pray that our service will be acceptable to the King, and to the saints. Romans 15:31.
Sheds of HOPE 