PNKS Mission Trip to Burnsville, NC

Updated: Jul 30

Hi, my name is Linda Starky from the First United Presbyterian Church in Cottonwood Falls. I was honored to have been a part of the PNKS Mission Trip to Burnsville, NC, on June 14th to help ﬂood victims of Hurricane Helene which happened late September 2024.

I had never been on a work trip of this type before. The thought of some sort of “building” kind of mission hadbeen on my mind for about a year. I looked into Habitat for Humanity in the Wichita and Emporia areas, but,for whatever reason, they did not compel me to sign up. When the Presbytery of Northern Kansas postedabout the Burnsville trip… it just clicked. God spoke to me and I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

“Our team” of 4, Dwight Baer from Clay Center, Ken Weaver from Emporia, Donna Huges from Wichita (PSKS) and myself, stayed at High Pastures Christian Retreat Center. It is nestled in the Blueridgemountains 36 miles northeast of Asheville, near Burnsville which was one of the hardest hit areas in NorthCarolina.

Even though 9 months has passed since the hurricane, we still saw the devastating effects of Helene whichdumped over 40” of rain in 2 days. They are still cleaning up debris from the sides of the roads. People are stillliving in campers because their homes need repair. We saw mud slide areas and lots of trees laid over on themountain sides.

Upon arrival to our “dorm”, where we would be staying, we were told that we were the only volunteers to signup for that week. I thought I would be disappointed in hearing that, but in reality, I was thrilled I didn’t have toshare a bedroom.

Sharon White, our “hostess”, works for The Fuller Center Disaster ReBuilders. A faith driven and Christcentered non-proﬁt who works in various locations after natural disasters — speciﬁcally hurricanes and ﬂoods — to help families who do not have the emergency aid or insurance they need to rebuild theirhomes and their lives. PNKS has worked with Fuller in the past, specifically in Texas after hurricanes struck there.

Sharon ﬁlled us in on 3 homes that we might be working on while we were there. Our daily schedules werepredetermined, in that breakfast was from 6:30-7:30, we’d have a morning devotion and then be at theworksite from 8am - 4pm. We took turns ﬁxing breakfast & supper and we made and packed sandwiches forlunch to eat at the site.

The ﬁrst home we went to was surprising to me that it had “ﬂood damage” because it sat up on a hill highabove the main road. But water doesn’t just rise... it also runs downhill, which was the problem. This home’sbasement foundation wall was damaged because of so much run-off. Fuller stepped in and poured anabutment wall. The sheetrock was already placed and taped when we arrived. So our job was to mud, sand (x3), prime (x3), paint (x3), and trim this one wall. We soon learned, none of us were good “mudders.” There isdeﬁnitely some skill needed for mudding sheetrock.

James, our construction boss, ended up redoing what we all ﬁrst attempted, so we stuck to the sanding,priming and painting to which he said (when we were ﬁnished) that we did a good job. :) We were glad tohave completed one of the homes on their list by the fourth day.

The 2nd house - ”Jen’s house” - was not going to be as easy as that. Her home is completely gutted. Her story isincredible.

I will conclude that even though I went on this trip and saw the devastation, saw their pictures and heard theirstories, I still cannot fully comprehend what those folks went through last September and are still dealingwith today. Their lives are forever changed.

When I think about it and them, I am reminded that God is in control. He guides our steps. He’s a good God, andeven in tragedies and trauma, I know something good will come from it.

I enjoyed time away from my job, visiting somewhere that I have never been, but also helping others, even if justby ﬁnishing a 24’ basement wall.

Thanks be to God and to PNKS for giving me the opportunity to go, ... and Amanda for making all thearrangements ...and Dwight, Donna, and Ken for putting up with me 28 hours in the car. Thank you.