From Ohio to Roan Mountain: Moved by the Spirit
It’s amazing how the Lord connects people, and the Roan Mountain folks recently received a blessing.
Well before Hurricane Helene hit, Jonesborough’s Jeff Eisfelder took a travel baseball team to a tournament in Southern Ohio. He made contact with Wheelersburg’s Tim Martin, a former high school baseball coach who is a scout with the Boston Red Sox. When the hurricane hit, Martin called Eisfelder to check on him and his family.
Eisfelder — whose son Nathan is a former Providence Academy standout now at IMG Academy in Florida and has committed to play at the University of Tennessee — said his family had no problems with the flood. But Eisfelder put Martin in touch with Johnson City’s Nick Lingerfelt, who has helped coordinate relief efforts in Northeast Tennessee.
“Jeff said there were many people around whose homes had been demolished,” Martin said. “I said we’ll get stuff together and do whatever we can to help.”
Lingerfelt connected Martin with St. John Freewill Baptist Church in Roan Mountain. Martin and his friends organized fundraisers. Then they delivered sheetrock, roofing material, doors, and plywood on Thursday.
“Nick put me in touch with (St. John FWB pastor) Richard Sheppard,” Martin said. “We started reaching out to people at our home church, Minford Community Church. We received donations and bought stuff at 84 Lumber. We’re fortunate for Nick’s help. He guided us in the way we could help.”
Martin and his helpers loaded trailers, and a U-Haul, and made the five-hour trek to Roan Mountain.
“It was a blessed day,” Martin said. “It’s something to see people joining together and helping, especially in an area like Roan Mountain and Elk Park, North Carolina. You just haven’t heard a lot about it. Things were bad in other places, but these people desperately need help. I talked to the pastor yesterday, and he said families have been told, ‘I’m sorry but you didn’t have flood insurance and there’s nothing that can be done.’ You’re talking about people who have lost 70 to 100% of their stuff, and most people don’t know about them.”
Martin already had an affinity for Northeast Tennessee because of his scouting territory. He previously scouted for the Cardinals, Expos, and Marlins. When he joined the Red Sox organization in 2013, his area became Kentucky, West Virginia, Michigan, Western Pennsylvania, and East Tennessee. Among the players he noticed were (ETSU’s) Landon Knack, (Sullivan East’s) Hunter Stratton, and Elizabethton’s Evan Carter.
Of course, the Red Sox didn’t have much chance to get Carter because the Rangers grabbed him with pick No. 50 overall.
“We knew he was a good player,” Martin said. “I thought he could hit and would be an impact player. But I was surprised he went that high. But it turned out pretty good as he was a key part of the Rangers winning the (2023) World Series.”
Martin said he and his wife enjoy visiting Pigeon Forge, but he didn’t expect to be headed to this area in October.
“It’s amazing how the Lord works,” Martin said. “I was sitting on the couch after the hurricane, and it was the Lord’s nudge saying you better call and check on Jeff and his family down there. When the Lord moves you, you just do it.”
And baseball played a role, too, Martin said.
“Without Jeff and them coming up for the showcase, I would have never known who to reach out to,” Martin said.
Martin said the following people and businesses played a role in the mission:
Minford Community Church
84 lumber
Ohio Builders Surplus
Gampps John Deer donating the use of their Trailer
Cody Compton — Donated a trailer.
Andy Glockner Chevrolet — donated the big UHaul truck.
Dean Schuler
Kris Schuler
And there’s more than relief efforts to this story, Lingerfelt said.
“They had some inmates helping and one of them got saved yesterday,” Lingerfelt said. “Another one said, ‘I was a believer when I was little, but I think I want to get baptized. This little church in Roan Mountain saw a flood, but now it’s having prisoners accepting the Lord.”