Article written by Carol Fouke-Mpoyo for UCC Disaster Ministries:
Steve and Amber Watson and their six children of rural Buffalo County, Neb., lost nearly everything to flooding in July 2019. An outpouring of support from their community along with their own hard work restored their home.
But Amber – who uses a wheelchair since a car accident in 2003 left her legs paralyzed – still lacked an essential item: a special stationary bike to passively exercise her legs while she actively exercises her upper body.
This equipment is a medical necessity for Amber to keep her leg muscles stretched and toned.
A $4,000 grant from United Church of Christ Disaster Response and Recovery to the Kearney, Neb., Area Disaster Recovery Group paid for the bike. The Rev. Coral Parmenter, Disaster Coordinator for the UCC’s Nebraska Conference recommended the grant.
“This is one of our hardest-hit families. Medical equipment was something they couldn’t afford,” said Brooke Johnson, the Kearney group’s Disaster Recovery Outreach Coordinator.
“Amber looks to everyone else’s needs before asking for anything for herself. When I told her we had received a grant to buy a new exercise bike for her, I said, ‘I know you weren’t expecting it, but you’re getting it.’”
Josh Baird, Team Leader for the UCC’s Global H.O.P.E., which includes Disaster Response and Recovery, said, “After a disaster, finding resources for unique needs is often a challenge. Even when support is prevalent, most funds are directed in specific ways.
“One of the blessings of UCC Global H.O.P.E. solidarity grants is that they are designed to enable local recovery leaders to meet needs that would otherwise go unaddressed,” Baird said. “This is just one of the ways that Global HOPE stands with and empowers others as they make their recovery.”
Amber, now 40, said, “This bike will keep me healthy and able to make an impact in other people’s lives,” adding that her weekly routine also includes two pool therapy sessions. “I’m 17 years in a wheelchair and doctors remark at how great my bone density and muscle tone are.”
Amber said she will never forget that fateful Monday in July 2019, when she, her husband and their six children then aged 2 to 16 were at home, enjoying a normal summer evening rain.
“The kids were running up and down the sidewalk,” Amber recalled. “Around 10 p.m., our two older boys headed for their rooms in the basement. One came back up to report, ‘There’s a little water in the basement.’”
Suddenly the rain began to fall in torrents. Floodwaters exploded windows, filled up the basement and breached the first floor, quickly rising 20 more inches.
Amber rolled in her wheelchair to the laundry room then out to the garage, which was still dry. They settled the five youngest children into their kayak.
“We lost power. It was pitch dark except for lighting strikes. I said, ‘I think we are surrounded by water.’ I called 911.” The family calmly prayed, sang and talked together while they awaited rescue. By the time firefighters reached the family two hours later, the water was up to Amber’s knees.
They stayed the night at a neighbor’s who hadn’t gotten flooded. “We settled the kids,” Amber said. “Then I sat there and bawled.”
By 7 a.m. the next day, the water already had receded.
“There was water still in the house trying to seep out the doors, and the basement was still completely filled with water,” Amber said. “Friends came and helped us pump out the water. We started ripping out the ruined flooring and walls. We just started working.
“Word got to our church, New Life Assembly in Kearney. My older stepdaughters and their spouses showed up. Other people started showing up with whatever we needed. Twenty-six people came to put up sheetrock. Teachers donated money for clothes for school. Church members dropped off furniture. One person did our laundry. Another dried out family photos. Volunteers brought hot meals every day for two months.”
Steve, 50, is in charge of Bish’s RV, a camper location. Amber was a preschool teacher until the COVID-19 pandemic, when she switched to working from home for a billboard company. She said the family is focused on serving others.
“We are greeters in our church and have been on mission trips. We sponsor two children in El Salvador. Our three youngest children are foster children. I have coached sports at church.
“So to be on the receiving end of help,” she said, “and for the community to come around us and love on us, was a moving experience. Just having God’s arms wrapped around us and the people He sent, with it on their heart to serve, was such a blessing.”
