PARISHIONERS, VOLUNTEERS FIGHT TO SAVE CHURCH

MILLER CITY, Ill. -- The Rev. Verlee Eaker had called off an emergency sandbagging crew Wednesday evening, because he had faith in the levee standing between his church and the rising Mississippi River.

But when a segment of the Len Small levee gave way a few hours later, Eaker was back on the phone in a flash.

Starting at about 8 a.m. Thursday, volunteers flooded into Miller City to help erect a barricade between the encroaching river and the Lake Milligan Baptist Church.

In mid-July, a portion of the Len Small levee gave way under the strain of a much higher Mississippi River, flooding more than 30,000 acres of farmland. The flood all but destroyed the church.

"We went through this last summer and lost the battle," said Eaker. "We're just that much more determined this year to save it. We've done so much and come so far, we can't let the river back in."

After news of the levee break got out, Eaker called for help from churches throughout Southern Illinois. The response was overwhelming, he said.

"We've had about 40 people out here all day and more should come tonight," he said. "The work is slow, but we're making headway."

One couple working out in the sun and brisk winds Thursday afternoon said they felt obligated to help the church.

Ralph and Gladys Ramage lost the home they were living in to the flood of 1993. The Ramages had been farming the land surrounding the home near Willard, Ill., for more than 30 years.

"The flood just cut up all the land," said Gladys Ramage. "There was no way we were ever going to be able to farm it again. So we sat down and talked about it, and we decided it was time to retire."

The flood not only left the Ramages unemployed, it rendered them homeless. So the church used some of the funds donated for church repairs and flood relief to buy the Ramages a mobile home, which now is on higher ground in Olive Branch.

"We can't tell them how much we appreciate the home," said Ramage. "I know we got help when we needed it most, so that's why I'm out here now helping the church when they need help.

"The Lord solved my problem, so now I'm doing what I can to help Him," she said.

Terry Gowin of Olive Branch, a member of the church since 1950, came out with his pickup truck and a trailer at about 8 a.m. Thursday to help with the sandbagging effort.

Gowin, owner of the Olive Branch hardware store, said he did much of the work to repair damaged furnaces in the church to make it habitable through the winter months.

"I'm going to stay out here until the cows come home tonight," said Gowin. "If we can get some flood lights out here, I'll stay until I can't move another inch. That's how much this means to me."

An office secretary from Cairo High School, her children and their friends cut school Thursday afternoon to help save the church.

"The (Milligan Lake Baptist Church) belongs to the same association our church is a member of, so we decided to come out today and see what we could do," said Mary Susan Worthington as she sat atop a sandbag, tying others filled by another volunteer. "Last year we helped sandbag houses in Olive Branch. We've gotten pretty good at it, actually."

Trisha Aydelott also was on hand to help, but her purpose for shoveling sand into synthetic sacks was twofold.

"I'm from the Farm Resource Center, an outreach mental health agency in Southern Illinois," she explained. "We are out trying to see what's happening to the people of this area.

"By talking to people in situations like this, we can find those who are anxious or depressed and perhaps offer some help on that level," Aydelott said. "It's a matter of crisis intervention and giving flood victims some support when they need it most.

"But not while we're shoveling," she said breathlessly, leaning on her shovel. "Only when we're tying."