By Karina Petersen, Samaritan’s Purse media relations coordinator
His name was Ulysses Hundley, but he goes by U.C. Actually, Reverend U.C. Hundley. I never found out if he was really a minister, or if he was just a man of God. He was certainly a man of prayer.
Reverend U.C. prayed after the tornado that hit his home in Petal, Mississippi. He was nervous about all the damage, particularly his fence that was down. He needed help.
When Samaritan’s Purse showed up, it was an answer to prayer.
U.C. spent most of the day sitting outside in the backyard watching the volunteers cut downed trees and haul off branches and other debris.
One volunteer in particular, a woman named Deana, paid close attention to U.C. She checked on him often, listened to him, and kept assuring him that things would get taken care of the way he wanted it.
“I think that if you are going to help, you need to go out and help with your heart,” Deana said. “It’s not about what you pick up, it’s about what you leave behind.”
U.C. wanted to salvage anything that they could, especially the fence posts. Deana took it upon herself to make sure that the posts that were salvageable went into a “save” pile. She even told him that she would be back with her sons to help him put the fence back up.
It was very apparent that Deana really connected with U.C., going the extra mile to make sure his concerns were being taken care of.
