Our call to this ministry began many years ago; we did not realize at the time what it would eventually look like. In 1991, while we were living in Wichita, Kansas, we were part of a search and rescue from an F5 tornado that eventually grew to a half-mile wide and destroyed more than 800 homes in our community. We didn’t know at the time that it was the beginning of our training in disaster recovery. Some years later, we relocated to SW Florida, where we’ve been involved with numerous hurricanes and tropical storms, including Irma and more recently Hurricane Ian, where we took a direct hit with more than two years of recovery and rebuilding.

Our current call to Western North Carolina last year was to establish our residence and ministry in Green Mountain. We had no idea at the time that we would find ourselves in the middle of a disaster of unimaginable scale. We now knew the scope of what God had intended for us. Our area was torn apart by high winds and flash flooding of Biblical proportions from the Hurricane. Most of you by now have seen on the news the images of the destruction from our general area. However, those crews never made it into this area where we are because many of the roads and bridges were taken out by mudslides and entire sides of the mountains sliding away. Many in our community were swept away by floods and mudslides and are still missing. We came in prepared for short-term emergency food and supplies for the immediate community but not on the scale this recovery will require. The short-term recovery will be dwarfed by what will happen over the next few months and into winter, after the volunteers leave and the cameras and news media are gone is when life is going to get very difficult. This is one of the poorest counties in the nation, and this recovery will take months if not years. This small community is already feeling the economic impact of this unprecedented event. Many local businesses have closed and will not survive, causing a long-term negative impact on this area.

Our plea to all of you is simply this: we are asking for financial and spiritual help as we continue to serve this community over the next several months. We are in need of a quality 4-wheeler, tow-behind trailer, box trailer, 30-ton log splitter, and other tree-cutting equipment and related supplies. Our goal is to help God make beauty from ashes by supplying free hardwood firewood for the poor and elderly. We have many volunteers lined up to help with this endeavor with nearly 12 acres of available wood on our property alone. We have established a GoFundMe account as well as Venmo and Zelle for those that are able to make larger donations. We also ask that before you donate, you take a moment to prayerfully consider how the Lord will use your generous gift. Our goal is 30K.

May God richly bless each and everyone this request will reach.

In His service,

Brad & Erica May

5566 Double Island Rd

Green Mountain, NC 28740

239-220-9775

239-220-7162 (for Zelle/Venmo)