November 2024

Each year during the start of the holiday season, the BJU Alumni Relations Department hosts the annual Giving Tree fundraiser, dedicated to helping an alum in need. Last year, your compassion was on full display as you generously gave a record-breaking amount to support a young alumni family! 

This year when we requested nominations from the alumni community, one God-ordained event seemed to influence your nominations and certainly guided us in our choice for this year’s Giving Tree recipients.

On Friday, Sept. 27, when Hurricane Helene decimated many areas throughout Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina, David and Ruth Zellers were among the victims.

David and Ruth graduated from BJU in 1991—he with a degree in criminal justice and she with a degree in elementary education and a minor in music.  They were from Florida and never contemplated moving to Cosby, Tennessee after graduation to start a life together.  But God had other plans and used a routine chapel request from Dr. Bob III to begin turning their gaze toward the hills of Tennessee.  As many alumni remember, Dr. Bob often asked the seniors to consider using their first few years after graduation to serve in a small church or ministry. David and Ruth are among the many graduates who allowed that simple request to be used by the Lord to lead them where they could serve.  For thirty-three years, the Zellers have served their mountain community in various roles including Christian school administration, music instructor, community choir and orchestra leaders and faithful church members assisting the ministry in any way needed.

The day Hurricane Helene stalled over their community, David and Ruth were planning a fairly regular, although soggier, day.  David headed to work, and Ruth checked on her 91-year-old father before heading to her son’s house to care for her grandchild. The next several hours unfolded in a way no one could have predicted. With a local dam on the verge of breaking, the situation in their community became life-threatening within minutes.  Ruth was alone with her grandchild while David headed to his father-in-law’s house to get him to higher ground. The ability to get information about the immediate threat or to stay connected with loved ones was challenging, leaving the Zellers family like many others – in the dark as to next steps. David determined he needed to get to his wife no matter the risk to his own life. When he finally reached high ground closer to Ruth’s location, he was able to use an emergency crew member’s phone to reach Ruth. Both David and the emergency worker urged her to get out of the house immediately and begin climbing toward the interstate. Shoeless and clinging to her granddaughter, Ruth started climbing. And the Lord spared their lives. Ruth reached high ground and was reunited with her husband. After some time, David, Ruth and their granddaughter were taken to a rescue center and eventually given shelter by a fellow church member.

The next day, David and Ruth returned to their property to discover their home for over 30 years—the house in which they reared their family—was swept away in the flood. Almost nothing was salvageable. While acknowledging their significant loss, the Zellers are keenly aware of the Lord’s protection. David, Ruth, Ruth’s father, both their sons, their daughter-in-law and their grandchild were all spared. But there is much to do to restore their normal cadence of life.  While they work through the details of rebuilding and furnishing a home, they continue to do what they have always done in their Tennessee community—serve.  As BJU alumni and friends support David and Ruth through prayer and giving, they will be supporting their community through their local church, through leading the Cocke County Orchestra and community choir as they prepare for Christmas concerts and through their gospel witness as they live and work in a hurting community.

Please pray for their county—specifically for churches to continue to reach out in a loving manner as the community rebuilds. And please pray for wisdom as David and Ruth have many decisions to make in the rebuilding process.

To financially support the Zellers, you can donate online by clicking the link below. You will also have an opportunity to give during the Christmas Celebration on Friday, Dec. 6.  We would love to see you at the Giving Tree exhibit located in the Welcome Center alongside the Alumni Christmas Market booths.

Donations will be accepted through Monday, Jan. 8, 2025.