ELIZABETHTON — Sitting down with Kaye and John Thomas inside Grace Baptist Church to learn about their almost 30 years working with Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief (TBDR) turns into an impromptu version of show and tell.
While Kaye explains their role with the organization, she’s interrupted, almost on cue, by a volunteer. He reports to her about a man who needs electrical and plumbing work for the house he’s built from scratch. As coordinator, Kaye listens carefully and mentions the crew she’s already scheduled to work at that location.
“It’s taken some creative minds,” she explains, describing their role, from overseeing massive repair work to organizing large groups of volunteers.
John Thomas, left, and his wife, Kaye, have been stalwarts for Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief for 30 years. The couple routinely serve as coordinators during DR responses across the state and beyond. — Photo by Katie Shaw
The Thomases, from Sevierville, have been stationed at the church since Hurricane Helene swept through Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee in the fall, destroying homes and taking lives.
They, along with three others, have coordinated hundreds of volunteers who show up to assist in rebuilding efforts. As of mid-March, the organization has completed 131 jobs in the area repairing homes. Kaye, 76, and John, 77, are living in a motorhome set up in the church’s parking lot while they work.
Completing those jobs takes volunteers, a thorough database of homeowners, and a very organized system which can be partly seen in colorful sticky notes and white cards taped along the walls of their temporary church office.
One wall is completely covered with white cards under a giant sheet that reads, “Complete.” Another wall is covered with sticky notes listing the volunteer teams, along with more white cards listing their assigned jobs.
In this particular week, approximately 112 volunteers were working in the area, a number slightly higher than usual due to spring break. They regularly have about 50-60 volunteers each week.
From their base at Grace Baptist, Kaye and the team assist families who come in asking for help and who have the required FEMA letter.
The families are added to the database and listed on a card for the wall. This helps staff oversee relief efforts in the 10 different areas where TBDR is working. Kaye said their job is not to build new houses from the ground up but to repair homes, the ones that can be salvaged. Work can include everything from ripping out wet sheetrock and insulation destroyed by floodwaters to repairing a roof crushed by fallen trees.
Called on mission
This type of physical labor is how the Thomases started their work with relief efforts 30 years ago. Kaye, who retired from serving as a special education supervisor for Sevier County Schools, said John was called to missions in 1994 which led to their first disaster trip — installing a roof on a house in Michigan. John, who had a career in construction, became a team leader while Kaye supported his work. They traveled extensively.
“God has taken us literally all over the world,” said Kaye, describing their mission work on five continents including volunteering at an orphanage in Nairobi, homeschooling the children of missionaries in Thailand, and traveling to Haiti twice following the earthquake. She said their most humbling experience was working in the kitchen feeding volunteers at Ground Zero in New York following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“Wherever the disaster was, we’d go,” she said.
On the road
Their work evolved into the administration position they lead today. It’s also kept them on the road and living like “gypsies,” John said, as they continually travel to disaster areas. Kaye said when they started this type of work, they mostly helped in the fall during hurricane season.
“It’s been in the last 10 years that it seems like it’s constant disasters, whether it’s hurricanes, floods, fires, or straight-line storms,” Kaye explained. “In the last 10 years, we’ve spent more time in our motorhome than we have at home.”
Living in the motorhome makes it easy to be onsite at Grace Baptist which includes 12-hour days coordinating relief efforts. The Thomases walk over to the church at 6:30 a.m., to meet with team leaders and for breakfast at 7 a.m., prepared by disaster relief cooks. Teams return to the church late afternoon for supper followed by devotion that evening. And then there’s all the work in between, scheduling volunteers and meeting with those who drop in with a request or to show their appreciation.
“We’ve just met so many wonderful people doing this and they’re all so appreciative,” said Kaye. “I’ll send a team out to work on a house and the homeowner will make a special trip to come in and say, ‘thank you.’”
Testimonies
Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer Kaye Thomas works the phones during a recent DR response. — Photo by Katie Shaw
Ten minutes later, Mollie Vess — the granddaughter of a homeowner helped by TBDR — walks in. Mollie’s grandmother lost her home in the storm and then suffered a stroke. She’s been recovering in rehab since without a home to return to. Then TBDR provided one. They presented Mollie’s grandmother with a 26-foot, donated camper, one of seven campers they’ve placed with area families. Mollie came into the church that day to check on the camper’s title and to give Kaye a hug.
“It’s an answer to prayers and we give God all the glory,” said Mollie, hugging Kaye through tears and smiles. We’re so grateful. Y’all are the best, my angels.”
Kaye said people stop by often to thank them. “Things like that spur you on,” she said, describing just a few of their many success stories.
There was the single mother with three children who had to live separately after losing their home in the storm. Volunteers with TBDR provided a new home and the family moved back in together. There was the couple who spent their life savings building a dream retirement home which was heavily damaged.
The wife was distraught, and they’d lost hope about living in the home again. Then a volunteer team showed up and made it possible. And there was the couple still living in their house even though a tree fell through part of it.
A volunteer team helped with repairs and with paying their electric bill that had skyrocketed from the damage. Kaye said she asked her Sunday school class at First Baptist Sevierville to specifically pray for her to assign the right team to the right family with hopes the volunteers can make a connection.
“That’s the reason we do this,” Kaye said. “To open the door so we can share the gospel with them and love on them and show them how much God loves them because it’s so hard right now.”
While the Thomases are helping storm victims find strength and hope, the couple is also quietly working through their own very personal “storm.”
Almost eight years ago, John was diagnosed with Parkinsons. Seated together inside Grace Baptist and holding hands, Kaye explains that they want to share his story with hopes of inspiring other families.
“The day of the diagnosis, we left the office, sat in the car, and cried.” Kaye describes. “And then we both said, ‘We’re not giving up on our missions. We’re going on.’ ”
And they have. Most of their disaster relief work has been completed since John’s diagnosis.
The couple, who’ve been married almost 58 years and proudly mention their four great-grandchildren, have switched roles. John now supports Kaye as she takes on the leadership role once held by her husband. But John is still moving. Kaye said doctors are astounded by his progress and mobility.
“We’re a team and we’ve done all this mission work together,” said Kaye who’s also been working with a brace on one arm after breaking her wrist during a fall in January. “You shouldn’t use excuses. God will always give you a way. If you’re willing, He’ll always make a way, giving you strength.”
And the Thomases continue to follow. While they originally thought their work in Elizabethton would last more than a year, Kaye thinks they could be completed much sooner thanks to locals who helped with repair work. When the job is finished, they’ll head back home to see family until, of course, they’re called back on the road again.
“I’m just really proud of the people of Tennessee,” she said. “They’re survivors in this area and they’re going to make it.” B&R
