Answering the call
By Jessica Brodie
COLUMBIA—Ben Willis was 73 years old when he heard the voice of God speak to him for the first time.
A member of Fair Lawn United Methodist Church, he was sitting in his recliner watching news coverage of the devastation Hurricane Helene brought to the Southeast, and his heart tugged as scenes from Western North Carolina filled the screen.
“Get up out of that chair and go do something!” he distinctly heard God say to him. “Do what you can.”
His wife, Annette, was there next to him, equally overcome with heartache and a desire to help.
The next morning at church, her husband stood up and told his fellow members God had spoken to him, and he knew: We need to do something.
That was the beginning of what has become a long-term food ministry passion for the Willises and their best friends, Al and Barbi Wactor.
And since that day at church, Sept. 29, they haven’t stopped, doing everything they can to serve and honor the Lord by loving his people in the aftermath of the storm.
Not a disaster—an apocalypse
For them, food was the obvious choice. Lifelong friends, Annette and Barbi frequently cook together, and Annette and Barbi’s husband, Al, often team up to oversee the annual church banquet, so they are well used to feeding large crowds. As word spread about their call to help, church and community members stepped up with donations. The very next week, Al’s friend called to say he’d just been to Canton, North Carolina, where he helped feed a host of volunteers at a donation outpost there, and more help was needed.
“Let’s do it!” Annette said to her husband and friends.
Quickly, they organized a trip and the needed supplies—a trailer full of hay, animal food, propane, nonperishable food, blankets, warm clothes and fencing—plus their own cooking materials, and they spent four days at the Western North Carolina Regional Livestock Center in Canton, where they ended up feeding about 80 people three hot meals a day. Most of those they fed were volunteers, both local and from out of state who pitched in to help after the hurricane, including a group from the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Some of the local volunteers had gone through the devastation themselves, yet they were there, serving others in need.
The foursome was staggered by the destruction they saw firsthand.
“It’s not a disaster—it’s an apocalypse,” Ben said, shaking his head as they tried to describe what they’d seen.
Many people are still living in tents, their homes washed away downriver, leaving nothing but dirt and rocks in their place.
“You can’t describe it,” Annette said, trying her best to recall the devastation. “You can hear people talk, you can see it on TV, but until you’ve been there, there’s no way to describe it.”
They didn’t stop with one trip to Western North Carolina. The couples returned Oct. 31 for a day trip to Canton and nearby Cruso, taking more supplies, propane and tools, then returned again the next month to help in Newland, North Carolina, and to nearby Swannanoa, one of the hardest hit places.
On their last trip, Dec. 3-7 to Spruce Pine, North Carolina, they brought supplies and propane, plus fed volunteers at Camp Unity two meals a day.
They plan to go back before Christmas to bring the people bikes and scooters, as well as toys and Christmas stocking items, and then make another longer feeding trip to Spruce Pine in January.
Overwhelming response
The support for their efforts has been overwhelming and humbling, they said, with help pouring in from neighbors and church members.
Once, when Annette was chatting with a friend at Lizard’s Thicket about what they were doing, a stranger overheard the conversation and handed her a hundred-dollar-bill to help their efforts. One neighbor wants to purchase their team a camper, and a woman in Winnsboro gave them a trailer to use in their food ministry.
“People we don’t even know are helping,” Annette said, wiping away tears. “I’ve driven all the way to Lexington and Chapin to pick up propane heaters.”
Whenever they had a need, God has supplied it, they said. While they use their own funds for their personal gas and meals, all the food they’ve cooked and items they’ve supplied have come from donations.
Even onsite in North Carolina they’ve been overwhelmed with assistance. One farmer donated 30 pounds of ground beef.
“They said, ‘Here, do something with this,’ and we just kind of looked at each other—so we had makeshift sloppy joes!” Annette said, laughing. “It was good and they enjoyed it.”
The meals are the fun part—for breakfast, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, and Barbi’s famous grits, not to mention biscuits and sausage gravy. Al cooked six Boston butts, and they also did a chicken bog, spiral sliced ham, and hamburger steaks with pinto beans, stewed tomatoes and fried cornbread.
“I think back about all this, and you always hear, ‘God doesn’t call the equipped; he equips the ones he calls,’ and we have been real blessed,” Al said. “I feel real honored to be used by God in this way. I’m retired, and it’s something I can do. Not only that, but my faith in humanity has been restored. Everybody has been wanted to help.
“It’s overwhelming that in these days and times you see that type of stuff.”
‘Don’t want to stop’
Al’s wife, Barbi, said much the same. After the hurricane, she found herself sitting in her recliner at home, comfortable and warm, and it hit her how many people were suffering from the storm.
“It’s very difficult to sit and think about someone else suffering—we had to do something,” Barbi said. “It was my push to get up.”
She said serving in this way, as well as seeing how many others have helped their effort, has been tremendously healing.
“I don’t want to stop,” Barbi said.
Ben said he feels the same way.
“I just know there’s so much more that we can do,” Ben said. “This is not something that’s ever hit me like this, ever had that kind of impact. God told me to do it, and that’s why.”
Ben said he hopes telling their story will inspire others to hear God’s call and do the same.
Annette agrees. She said the devastation won’t be fixed anytime soon.
“This is not short term by any means,” Annette said. “We learned yesterday some of the campers being loaned to these volunteer organizations will have to be given back in March, and the camp has to be off their location, but these people aren’t going to be self-sufficient by then—many, many people are still in tents and have no place to go.”
Ben said last night a panic call came in for wooden pallets after a torrential downpour that flooded tents.
“They were begging people to bring empty, abandoned pallets—things we throw in a fire to build a bonfire with,” Ben said, shaking his head. “These people won’t be back to normal for a while. For many, there won’t ever be a normal. Their property, the farm where they raised their children on, the property lines are still there but it’s all washed down the river.
“We look for this to go on indefinitely—as long as we can, as long as there’s a need.”
Anyone who feels called to help their effort is invited to send funds to Fair Lawn UMC, 9203 Wilson Blvd., Columbia, SC 29203 (note “WNC relief” on the check). To talk with them directly about other ways to help, call Ben at 803-413-7106.