Destruction zone!

Saturday, May 28

     I was sporting a pink breast cancer awareness band aid today; I'll fill you in on that later though.
     My day started early after tossing and turning on the standard single mattress most dormitories provide and after a small breakfast of pancake and sausage - definitely not the Family Tree Meats variety - I was off again to the College Heights.  I checked in at the volunteer desk - yes, they are keeping count with well over 4,000 - and headed to the chapel to get my orders for the day.  I was heading outside to work in the field.  I was pleasantly surprised to see a rumpled Randy Gariss, the minister of College Heights, leading the way.  After his introduction to the work outside process and a reminder that looters or anyone looking like a looter would be sent to Carthage to wear little orange jump suits, he sent us on our way.  I joined a group of twenty others to head out to the Blendville Christian Church.

This church had lost all of its sanctuary - excluding the wall with the large cross- most of its storage rooms and had its classrooms destroyed by the torrential rains because there were gaping holes in the ceilings.  Upon arrival we learned that their vans were pinned in by the rubble of what used to be the concrete building which housed them.  An assembly line was formed and we moved the building block by block.
     Here's where the pink cancer band aid come into play.  Some of the concrete was formed around large metal trusses which were impossible to move alone.  Several of us gathers around to push and pull them out of the way so that we could continue to clean up the debris.  One young lady had her fingers caught between that large metal concrete laden truss and more concrete blocks.  When we finally go her fingers out we discovered that she had successfully ripped off an entire fingernail and had a gash on the other side.  I must say it is not a pleasant thing to wrap up a gushing wound while a woman cries and moans in extreme pain.  The young woman had not had a tetanus shot and neither had I.  If you are going to go clean up stuff in a disaster zone...a tetanus shot is a must!!!  I drove a few blocks down the road to the Red Cross trailer and took my shot like a man.  Okay, fine.  I really squealed like a little girl and did the tippy toe dance.
Silly nurses laughed at me.  The audacity.
     Upon arriving back at the church I discovered concrete removal had been completed and debris clean up had begun. 

                                                                                      Now mind you, remember the tornado which hit
 Joplin was a F5 multi vortex one which only moved
 at 25-30 mph, whereas a normal tornado moves in
excess of 50 mph.  Not only that, but it never lifted
off the ground for six miles.  Being inside that tornado
 was like being in a blender with up to 200 mph winds. It literally chewed up everything in its path and then spewed it out upon the earth.  While there were large pieces of things to clear, there were thousands upon thousands of shredded, splintered pieces of everything from shingles to trees to telephone poles to pebble size pieces of concrete and brick.  If you survived this tornado, you have a story to tell - guaranteed. 
    While I didn't hear any of those stories to day, I did meet and work with some very interesting people.  Steve had been out working since Tuesday - that's five days folks!  At the end of the day as we drove back to the church, he still voiced awe at the destruction before him.  While he lives outside of the affected area, he said he had just recently survived a tragedy.  You see, Steve works construction and had been working at  a home when he took a fifteen foot fall off of a ladder.  Thankfully, he was not alone that day as he was so many other days.  Upon arriving at the hospital, it was discovered he had busted his hip, hurt his back, broken six ribs, ripped up the inside of his shoulder and gashed his head to the point where he didn't even remember going up the ladder, much less any of the rest of it.

 Steve (pictured left) said he felt blessed and fortunate to have survived and while he hasn't been able to return to work because his shoulder still has limited mobility, he called his doctor and asked if it would harm him if he helped clean up debris.  The doctor gave the go ahead and Steve has been picking up pieces parts for days. 

Isaac and Becky are from Joplin...just a few blocks up the road from Blendville Christian Church and just barely out of the tornado's path. They are here helping today because they are grateful they escaped unscathed.    Becky (pictured right) is a fellow teacher; God bless her for she teaches kindergarten.  Isaac is a youth minister.  They are a breath of fresh air.  They were full of energy and smiles.  It was a joy to work side by side with them as they gave back to the neighbors.

Once again I sit at a desk in a dorm room and ponder my day.  I'm exhausted and sore, but my spirit is renewed.  I've met and worked with fine people today...many of whom I've not mentioned.  I have sweated bottles of water.  I have raked hundreds of feet of lawn and learned about the struggles of a man named Steve.  I have hugged a teenager from Kansas City and eaten breakfast with a lady from Oklahoma.  I have bandaged a bloody finger of a woman whose name I don't even know and played matchmaker with a girl I trained as a personal shopping assistant. 

I have eaten lunch in front of this sight.

                          

I have sung a familiar song from a rain soaked hymnal.

I have wondered if these tapes will ever work again.

I have taken pictures of myself in front of the debris.

I have wondered what child lost this puzzle piece.

And I have worked until I couldn't raise my arms to rake another inch.

     While my body aches and I have wept numerous times today as my emotions assimilate the overwhelming destruction; my spirit soars.  I know that every hug, every smile, every pull of the rake and move of a concrete block makes a difference.  We often wonder, What can I do? I'm only one person.  That's the wrong way to look at it.  We ought to be saying, I'm only one person, but look at what I can do!  I can come together with another person and another and another until we can move buildings, change lives and rebuild.

"Peace doesn't come from finding a lake with no storms. It comes from having Jesus in the boat." John Ortberg