LUMBERTON — A church that has stood more than 100 years is still serving its community despite working through its own damage from flooding.
West Lumberton Baptist Church, at 2320 W. Fifth St., is in a neighborhood hard hit by the flood waters of Hurricane Matthew. The church sits a few yards below an Interstate 95 overpass, and flood waters dumped tons of sand mostly behind the church and its other buildings.
Water rose up to 4 feet in some places outside the church building and it rose 1 to 3 feet in parts of the church.
At least two buildings will have to be torn down, according to Rick Foreman, senior pastor, including the parsonage, which was no longer being used, and the old church, which was being used as a children’s facility and nursery.
“There are water marks outside up to my waist and I’m 6-foot-3,” Foreman said.
The new church, constructed in 2006, will be repaired and the fellowship building will be restored to house the children’s wing, Foreman said. The children’s playground was literally swept away, he said. It will be rebuilt. About 5 percent of the church’s furnishings were salvageable, he said.
Foreman and his family had moved from the parsonage in August after they decided to buy a house in Lumberton and stay here after he retires. They were going to wait another year to buy a house, but a house became available so they bought it and moved in.
“The Lord rescued us before the flood came to be able to help others,” Foreman said. “Not that we’re anything special. I’d have a hard time ministering to others if I was the one needing all the help.”
But not every church member was so fortunate, he said. Four church families lost their homes and long-time church member and deacon, Charles Ivey, who lived across the street from the church, drowned while trying to leave the rising flood waters.
The church reached out not only to its membership, but to others in the neighborhood as well, giving out water, food, diapers, cleaning supplies, blankets and anything else people brought to the church to distribute.
“We’ve probably given out 200, 300 cases of water a day and a lot of food,” Foreman said.
One day a relief group brought food and came equipped with a mobile barber shop.
The church isn’t neglecting spiritual needs, he said. By early November, six people had professed their faith in Christ, he said.
People have also shared their appreciation for what the church has done for them, he said.
“These folks in West Lumberton, it’s like this just happened yesterday. Some people are back in their lives but you look around this community — it’s not over for them,” Foreman said. “Some of those folks are still trying to figure out how they are going to get their homes cleaned out — whether they are ever going to live there again.”
Even though the buildings are a mess, Foreman said the church membership is confident it will continue on.
“We’re going to be OK. We’re not worried about that but a lot of those folks aren’t. We still have people every day that come up and with tears in their eyes, who want to hug us and tell us just how much it means to them to give them whatever we can give them,” Foreman said. “It’s a tremendous blessing for us to be able to help them.”
Church members have already started raising money to rebuild, he said. The church did not have flood insurance.
“We’ve been here over 101 years and it’s never flooded,” Foreman said. “We had insurance for everything else, but this wasn’t an everything else problem.”
