A Twister of Fate

(The following post was typed yesterday.)

On this day two years ago a little town, that I was barely familiar with, experienced a catastrophic F5 tornado.  One hundred and fifty one families lost someone they loved.  Hundreds of people were injured and displaced, most losing all of their material possessions.

An entire community was changed forever in Joplin, MO on May 22, 2011.

A twenty-nine year-old girl from Texas was forever changed as a result of this infamous tornado.

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Convoy of Hope if a faith-based, non-profit organization based in Springfield, MO.  They have five divisions, but disaster response is the division I have worked with.  My first experience with this organization was in 2005 on a debris-filled, abandoned parking lot.  There were tents set up everywhere, port-a-potties, no showers, no electricity and a plethora of volunteers from around the country.

I went to Slidell, LA with a team from my church in Longview.  We stayed for several days supplying victims of Hurricane Katrina with water, food and cleaning supplies.  It was such a rewarding experience to be able to not only meet the physical needs of others, but to be able to listen to their stories, cry with them, pray with them, and bring hope to the hopeless situation they found themselves in.

Longview First Assembly Team, Hurricane Katrina, 2005

My next opportunity to work with Convoy of Hope didn't come for three more years.  Hurricane Ike hit south Texas in 2008.  My sister and I had Labor Day weekend off work, so we packed up and  headed to the Houston area.  We stayed on cots in a church with no electricity and showered on the parking lot with the aid of a water hose.  We distributed water and food and helped oversee the site.  This was my first experience leading groups of volunteers.  Our long hours in the sun helped us earn the title of "Blister Sisters".  That weekend is still one of my favorites spent with my sister.

The "Blister Sisters", Hurricane Ike, 2008


Three more years passed before my next disaster response opportunity.  The F5 tornado hit Joplin right before Memorial Day weekend, and I immediately knew that I wanted to spend my holiday weekend doing whatever was needed to help serve.  

Images from Joplin

The devastation was beyond anything I had ever seen or could even comprehend.  As far as I could see was nothing but flat debris.  The silence, the stillness, the lack of greenery and signs of life will forever be etched in my mind.  I have never been to a war zone, but that is the only way I have to describe the landscape that weekend (and for months ahead).  At one point the enormity of it all hit me; I felt like someone had punched me and all I could do was cry thinking of how I would feel if the remnants I was standing in were of my home... neighborhood... city.

I went home that weekend with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and a strong feeling that I would be back.  I finished the last two weeks of school and did indeed go back, for the rest of the summer.     

My vehicle and home away from home for most of the summer.

Convoy of Hope set up a "store" where citizens could come and get things they needed for free.  It was stocked full of just about anything you can imagine.  I oversaw volunteers and groups that came to give their time.   

Disasters are horrible things, but good things often come from horrible situations.  The true nature of a person is often reflected in a time of crisis, and let me tell you, there are a lot of good people out there.  Times of desperation offer opportunities for our hearts to be stretched and opened.  

I met some incredible people that summer.  I heard story after story of incredible heartbreak, but I also heard story after story of incredible courage and hope.  My life-view grew as a result of my time in Joplin.

  Jut FEW faces of people I was blessed to meet in the summer of '11.

Relief work is emotionally tough, but God placed me among a group of AMAZING volunteers that helped ease the heaviness of it all.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our paths crossing was a divine act.  I count this group among some of my dearest friends to this day!  

"That's a good group!"

Being Christ's hands and feet extended is not just a command, but it's a huge privilege.  Being able to offer hope to the hopeless is a blessing.  Being able to accurately portray a living God is a joy.  Investing in things eternal is all that really matters on this earth.  

I strongly encourage you to find where you can show Christ's love and do it.  It may be something that appears small in your eyes or big to the world, but it's all the same in God's eyes.  It may take a little sacrifice, but you won't be sorry and the rewards far out weigh any difficulty.


10,000 Reasons