Austin and Annie Henry are truly a YOKE family. They have a long history with YOKE and have served in a variety of capacities. Annie served as a YOKE Folk and also on YOKE’s staff for nearly 5 years in the early 2000s. During that time, Austin served as a team leader at South Doyle and still enjoys serving at YOKE Camp as his schedule allows. Their oldest daughter, Hadley, once a YOKE Kid at Carter, now serves as a YOKE Folk there herself. Delaney, her younger sister, is currently a YOKE Kid at Carter and rarely misses club.
Austin’s background and diverse skill set have opened a new avenue for service that he is particularly passionate about: disaster relief. Austin serves with the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. He keeps a “go bag” at the ready and could be sent anywhere with as little as an hour’s notice.
“The team I serve on is the tip of the spear,” Austin explained. “We are usually the first team on the scene, often arriving before the WHO, Red Cross, or news agencies.” His team is deployed to provide food, water, shelter, medicine, and other forms of assistance in Jesus’s name. “We construct temporary field hospitals to provide medical care until local services are restored,” he continued. “We also have portable water filtration systems we deploy to provide safe drinking water after a disaster.”
These skills and resources were desperately needed recently after the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. Though Austin’s team usually serves internationally, this time they were needed closer to home. You may have seen images on the news of the emergency oxygen tents constructed by Samaritan’s Purse following the storm. Austin was responsible for the construction of those.
Stateside, Austin also serves with North American Ministries, another division of Samaritan’s Purse. “NAM is made up of mainly volunteer teams who respond to floods, hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, and any other manmade or natural disaster,” said Austin. “We help homeowners during the most stressful times of their lives.” Austin said, “We assist the homeowners with tree and debris removal, sifting ashes, or mudding out homes all while bringing hope in Jesus’s name.” During the first few weeks after Hurricane Helene, Austin served as team leader, spending much of his time clearing trees, removing debris, and mudding out homes.
In addition to his recent work in North Carolina, Austin has also responded to wildfires in Colorado, tornadoes in Alabama, an earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and wildfires in Hawaii. “I love working with Samaritan’s Purse because I get to serve in so many different capacities alongside a great team and I get to share about Jesus with people on the worst day of their life,” said Austin. “The unknown of when I am going to be asked to deploy can be nerve racking and exciting at the same time, but my team includes the best people, and I am always in awe when serving with them.”
Here are some ways Austin encourages all of us to help.
- Pray. When you see something horrible on the news, know that my team is probably already on the way. Pray for the victims, pray for the team, but most of all pray that the light of Christ will shine during this dark time in someone’s life.
- Volunteer. NAM is always looking for volunteers to clean up after a natural disaster in the US. No prior training or experience is necessary, and they provide the tools, a trained team leader, and all of the safety equipment you need.
- Work. NAM and DART are both currently hiring both full and part-time positions.
For more information, visit samaritanspurse.org.
