“This is the season of low hanging fruit,” said a Samaritan’s Purse Chaplain after a long day of sweat and tears shed out of pure thankfulness. Following S u p e r s t o r m Sandy’s path of destruction, twenty-eight students and fourteen fac-ulty members raised profits and requested prayers to fly out to New Jer-sey from No-vember 15 to 20 to aid storm victims for the sole purpose of service in Christ’s name.

Superstorm Sandy struck the shores of New Jersey on Oc-tober 29. Ninety mph winds and 11.62 inches of rainfall accom-panied the storm and cost busi-nesses over $30 billion, left two million households powerless, and took the lives of 23 people.

The Lord provided the neces-sary funds, and the team flew out to serve those in need of physical and spiritual aid.

Sophomore Colette Stark’s ini-tial response to the damage may be surprising to Americans who only saw the most dramatic im-

ages of the catastrophe on the news. “Everything looked fine,” she said as she reflected on the initial drive into the community. “I was expecting to see roofs off

and houses not even exis-tent.”

As the work boots went on and the work day kicked off, the doors to a whole new world of de-struction were opened. The constancy of uprooted oak trees either leaning on houses or lay-ing flat on the ground indi-cated the prox-

imity of a home to the New Jersey shore.

Home interiors showed scars of water lines that marked where the flood waters rose in the home. Many homes flooded up to four feet, and water would mean mold in these cases. For this reason, homes that could not be salvaged were often com-pletely lost.

In response to these issues, the New Jersey group split up into two different work teams. Mud-out teams were demolition.

Crowbars and sludge hammers in hand, volunteers cleared out houses of all furniture, tore up soaked carpet, and smashed out damaged drywall.

Essentially, homes were stripped of every memento that gave life to memories, and only the wooden skeleton remained after the work was complete. Volunteers performed jobs free of charge which would other-wise cost distressed homeowners $25,000-$30,000.

Tree teams were clean up. Trees that had fallen or were too dam-aged to stay standing were cut down and sawed into pieces. Tree teams improved the aesthetics of the home from the outside, while mud-out teams dis-sected homes piece by piece.

Superstorm Sandy wrecked homes and demolished the spirits of homeowners. As Sa-maritan’s Purse works with disaster victims, their goal is to rebuild the hope of the home-owner through the love of Christ.

A volunteer from Michigan put it best herself when she de-scribed her goal in service, “She is gonna walk in and she’s gonna

see God...that’s why we do what we do.”

At the end of each job, the team met with the homeowner, presented a Bible from Samari-tan’s Purse, and prayed over the homeowner and the home. Hope from Christ was evident; tears were inevitable.

Sandy Bohack of Ocean Gate, New Jersey, whose mud-out was performed by a team of girls, was

at the lowest point of her life after losing her home two years after the death of the father of her chil-dren. When asked about the day Samaritan’s Purse knocked on

her front door, Bohack reflected, “I think it was really Jesus there...because I was so miserable that day.”

The fruit that the Chaplain referred to in his speech to the volunteers is a reference to John 15, where Jesus talks about the fruit of his followers who remain in him: love. Through the material and spiritual destruction in New Jersey, the fruit was more reach-

able than ever.This unique mission

of high school students caught national atten-tion, and volunteers were highlighted in an NBC Nightly News seg-ment on November 20 that painted Valor Christian High School in a positive light.

The service done in Christ’s name impacted not only the homeown-ers but also the volun-teers on the New Jersey team. “I have honestly never seen God work-ing so intently in the midst of such great tragedy as I did over those five days,” said senior Victoria Fernalld.

The New Jersey trip similarly af-fected Ross Macdonald, “I came to realize how much better life is when you are living for the Lord and not yourself.”

Photos by Amanda Garcia and Brian Bonnby Conner Clay

4 Edition 3 | Valor Christian High School

Valor students turn devastation into beauty for Hurricane Sandy Victims in New Jersey.

A f t e r t h e S t o r mSERVING

Sandy Bohack is one face among many dealing with devastation. Photo by Amanda Garcia

Bohack has a special connection with senior Mary Walters, who reminds her of her own daughter. Photo by Amanda Garcia

People seen in photos: Brooke Sewell (top-center), Jerry Farmer and Hunter Bentley (carrying log lower-top-left), Christian Vernaza (carrying branches), Conner Clay and Christian Vernaza (carrying log lower-bottom-right).