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From Anchorage to St. Petersburg

Jan 16, 2025

At the end of October, a group from Eagle River Grace in Anchorage, Alaska, traveled to Florida to assist with hurricane response. Roger Nelsen, Ryan Mahoney, and Greyson Culbert spent several days serving alongside Charis Disaster Response and On Mission Network in St. Petersburg, Fla. Roger, whose family has been actively involved in various ministry aspects of Eagle River Grace and who coordinated the Florida trip, shared about his experience below.

Q: How did you get connected with the trip to Florida? Why did you want to go?
A: My wife and I were showing our daughters pictures of the damage from hurricanes Helene and Milton, intending to give money and teach a lesson about charity. Our oldest daughter Elizabeth (7) asked me, “So when are you leaving?” I didn’t have a good reason not to go help, so I started looking for opportunities. Our board of elders told me about the Charis Disaster Response team. I contacted Todd Derry and was on my way down soon after.

Q: Share about your experience, what you did, and who you interacted with.
A: Our church sent a team of three — Ryan, Greyson, and myself. Greyson was placed with a chainsaw team from Texas for the first several days, and later joined Ryan and I. Ryan and I spent our time stripping down houses damaged by flooding. We removed flooring, cut out drywall, and generally stripped houses back to the studs before applying anti-mold agents. We got to work with other volunteers from states all over the U.S., including: Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and California. Outside of the people we served with, we also interacted with the people from the church who hosted us, got to meet several of the homeowners, and spent a significant amount of time talking to and working with two young boys named Joseph and Jakari.

Q: How was this trip personally rewarding for you? 

A: I got to meet a lot of good people, spend a lot of time in Christian fellowship, and do a lot of good work for people who were genuinely in need. The trip was like the ideal men’s retreat. It was my first mission-type disaster deployment, and I definitely want to do more. 

As noted above, I feel the trip was not only beneficial to those we were able to help, but it was a huge blessing to me and my friends as well. Jesus taught that if we want to be happy, we need to serve others, and I found this trip to perfectly illustrate His teaching. I would strongly recommend that anyone who is able to help in a similar manner give it a shot, at least once.