Joplin Thank You Note

Posted on May 13, 2013 by disaster

Recently we received a thank you note from a survivor in Joplin that some of our teams recently worked with:

Hello!  My name is Ashly G.   I am sorry this is coming a lot later than expected.  I wanted to take time and write you, to tell you how much my family and I appreciated your (Resurrection) generous donation of $10,000.  This process of rebuilding has been an amazing blessing to us with having amazing people (such as you and your church) be able to help us in our time of need.  We will be forever grateful.  We have been able to come a LONG way with your donation.  We hope to be in our home before the 1st of june.  I would love to send you pictures of before/after of our home that you are now such a big part of.  There are not enough words to express my gatitude.  Thank you for being such a great God-giving church.  There are amazing Christian people out there and you are by far one of those amazing people!

God Bless, Ashly

So a BIG thank you to all of you who donated funds for tornado disaster response AND for those of you that have helped clear debris and those that have helped rebuild.  You are such a blessing!

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Construction 101

Posted on May 9, 2013 by disaster

Did you know the Reach & Restore Ministry offers a Construction 101 class?  This is to teach those interested in rebuilding in disaster hit communities the basics on sheetrocking, electrical wiring, framing, etc.  On April 27th, Construction 101 took place at My Father’s House.  Thank you to MFH for welcoming our trainees and allowing us to share your space!

 

Sheetrocking 101

 It was a chilly morning, but everyone had a great time learning and having hands-on experience.

Wiring 101

 A BIG thank you to all of our trainers who volunteered their time and shared their expertise!

Measure twice, cut once.

 

 
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Hurricane Isaac update – Stay…Pay…Pray

Posted on August 31, 2012 by disaster

Resurrection has been in contact with disaster relief coordinators regarding Hurricane Isaac, and has let them know we are available to assist when they are ready for our help. It is important to remember that it will take time to coordinate efforts and evaluate the appropriate response to best meet the needs in the communities effected by this disaster. At this time we need to let the Fire, Police and Medical crews currently in place do their jobs. Please do NOT show up at any disaster site without an invitation.

Ways to help

Monetary donations are the best way to ensure that your gift is helpful to the community and individuals in need, and is valuable in ensuring that immediate needs can be met. You can donate online by clicking the appropriate button on the right side of the Isaac Storm Response page . Resurrection Missions will be matching all of these online donations up to a total match of $10,000.

Volunteer to help when these communities and KS East Conference have invited Resurrection to participate in relief efforts. Click here to indicate your interest and availability to volunteer.

Clothing and supply drives are not recommended as they create additional costs for transportation and take attention away from first responders to coordinate delivery and manage storage resources to house the donations.

Visit the Disaster Response page to view trainings offered and trips scheduled to assist communities recovering from disasters. Once there, click a date link listed on the right side of the page for event specific details.

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2012 June Team

Posted on July 18, 2012 by disaster

June 23, 2012 – Saturday COR “Reach and Restore” Day trip to Reading, KS

The original trip was scheduled to occur the week prior but had to be cancelled because the work options were to either paint new walls inside, or do deck/ramp work outside, and as of the night before, the sheet rock inside was not complete enough to paint, and rains made it too muddy to work outside.  So 5 of the 9 people were able to reschedule and go the following week.

Reading, KS…a beautiful town and wonderful people on the west side of Melvern Lake. Ken, Mark, and Layne arrived about 8:30am, met with Steve at the Habitat house, and immediately moved a couple houses west to Chris and Shawna’s house.  The south side of their house had been destroyed by the tornado (two rooms), and Chris is working mostly on his own to get it closed in.  It will be there new master bedroom.  We spent the morning tying in the rafters to make a beautiful vaulted ceiling and strengthening the existing walls.  Dan Neill (framing expert) and Steve worked with us in the afternoon leveling the south side wall, framing in the gable, and putting up the particle board.  Rosemary and John arrived shortly after us and worked with a group of seven from a Lawrence Methodist church at the Habitat house.  Sheetrock was finished earlier in the week so all day was spent priming and painting the inside.  The homeowner and his son were there working also.  Lunch was provided by The Miracle Diner in town which was very appreciative.  Priming was finished and two bedrooms were completed (master in a light brown) and son’s room (red and blue).  Steve originally thought they’d move in around July 4, but now thinks it will be just shortly after.  Carpet will be ready to lay down within a week. Chris and Shawna opened their house up for showers before the town BBQ at 5:30pm in the city park.  We sat outside in the shade and enjoyed watching their 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter play around in the yard.  Overcast in the morning, it got hot in the afternoon, but plenty of shade and a terrific breeze!  We attended the BBQ dinner until almost 7:00pm then headed back to COR, arrived shortly after 8:15pm. A wonderful day was had by all– Layne

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2012 July Team

Posted on July 18, 2012 by disaster

July 14, 2012 – Saturday COR “Reach and Restore” tornado response day trip to Reading, KS

July 2012 day group

All smiles and ready for early morning departure!

Energetic, enthusiastic, and ready to serve — what a fitting description for the eleven men and women getting up early on a Saturday morning to travel to Reading, KS. This “Church of The Resurrection” volunteer group (like groups before them and groups to come) was anxious to spend the day making a difference. An approximately 90 minute car pool trip put us in Reading by 8:30 a.m. and work assignments were made and work started by 9:00. Steve Burnett, Kansas Coordinator for Reading emergency volunteer service providers, and Carl (Carl was over-all coordinator for our COR group — he and three others made up the Thursday through Saturday team already in Reading) met with us for the day’s work schedule and a beginning prayer. Five of our group joined the 3-day folks and worked on framing and roughing-in a garage and room at a young family’s home that had lost part of their house to the May 21, 2011, storm. The other six of us took on a wheelchair ramp project for an older family now living in a mobile home.  Dry weather and temps in the triple digit mark required wise workplace precautions and plenty of liquids. Peter was our day-group leader and made sure we watched out for each other. Lunch break was welcomed, not only for the bathrooms and shade but also for the tasty local-villager-provided meal at the city park picnic shelter. They expressed how appreciative they are of volunteers who have been there and who continue to come and help.

Lunchtime!

We then spent a few minutes at the United Methodist Church basement for additional cooling and a quick look at the maps showing Reading before the storm and after. Serving God through serving others and making lives better is our primary purpose for these kinds of work trips. However, this comment from a team member makes clear that found, too, are camaraderie and new friendships: “. . . in my experience, I have never had a group turn into a team of friends as quickly in my life. Everyone contributed; everyone communicated; everyone listened to each other; and everyone made great suggestions that made the project go well. At the end of the day, we had the basis of a usable ramp. Peter did a great job of leading without bossing, and it looked like everyone had a lot of fun. I would go with this group again anytime. Peace, Rich” The day ended around 7:00 p.m. when the last of our group arrived home.  It was a day that left us tired but feeling like we had spent it well.

Near complete ramp

Nearing completion

The following links will take you to pictures and more comments. Blessings everyone! http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151006216864718.446271.697914717&type=1&l=eee8bce52b

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Joplin Trip — May 18-20

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Communications Staff

Front row: Michelle, Michelle, Kelsey, Christina. Back Row: Jason, John, Maddie, Elizabeth, Larry.

As our team arrived in Joplin, the city was marking the one-year anniversary of the tornado in a variety of ways. Four of our members participated in the Joplin Memorial Half Marathon and 5K race on Saturday morning and preparations were underway for a visit from President Obama later in the week.

Our three-day team spent the majority of our time at Byers Avenue United Methodist Church, just outside of the main area of devastation.  This facility has housed hundreds of volunteers from across the country every day for the last year and was in need of some care itself.

Our job was to paint the entire multipurpose room/gymnasium so that it can continue supporting teams through the rebuilding process.  We divided out the tasks and were able to paint low, high and higher (thanks to our trusty lift).  It was especially gratifying to both start a project and to see it through to completion.

Previously pink, the gym was painted a calming shade of cream from floor to ceiling.

On our final day we met up with the Saturday team at a house that was in need of some minor repairs and a fresh coat of paint.  While we weren’t able to fully complete this project, we were able to make some good headway for the next team  by prepping and priming the exterior of the house.

The Saturday and three-day teams joined together to prep and paint the exterior of a house.

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Joplin Trip – November 4-5, 2011

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Communications Staff

We returned to the same home for our final two days in Joplin, where we continued to hang sheet rock. We shared work with volunteers from Lafayette Park United Methodist Church in St. Louis and met other area residents who had traveled to Joplin to volunteer for the weekend. Everyone seemed to find their own niche–from drilling to hanging to dremeling cut-outs for windows and doors. Working together, we were able to experience significant transformations within the home:


View from the master bedroom (before)


View from the master bedroom (after)

While there is still plenty of work left to do in Joplin, we were grateful to serve God and contribute to the rebuilding process. We’d also like to thank the well-organized team of volunteers who have set up camp in Joplin and who shared their spiritual gifts with us this weekend. Joe, an area resident, taught us the art of sheet rocking, while Tim, a Michigan resident who has been volunteering with his wife, Ellie, for more than six weeks in Joplin, oversaw the project and made sure volunteers were being utilized to the fullest.


Back row: Chris, Joe, Karin and Jason. Front row: Maddie, Michelle and Tim.

If you’re interested in serving as part of Resurrection’s disaster response team, visit our website for more information and to learn about upcoming opportunities.

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Joplin Trip – November 3, 2011

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Communications Staff

Snowy showers left early, making for an easy trip down to Joplin. We met with our team leaders, who took us to the house we will be working on during our stay. The house will be a parsonage for a Baptist pastor, who will be using it as a base of operations in Joplin. When the tornado hit, the men we were working with were in the church next door, which no longer exists.

Our projects today included insulating the home, caulking the windows and doors, and installing sheet rock on the walls and ceilings. It was fun to see how quickly the house was transformed and we’re excited to continue our work tomorrow.

After arriving at Royal Heights United Methodist Church, we enjoyed a delicious feast of pork loin, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad and a spread of desserts, including tasty blueberry fluff, prepared by the hands of wonderful church congregants. Following the dinner, we were able to sit with other mission volunteers and Joplin residents, hearing their stories and gaining a better understanding of how God is building this community in the aftermath of the storm.

We’re looking forward to two more days of cross-denominational domination.

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Joplin Trip, July 30, 2011

Posted on August 25, 2011 by shereer

We got up early on the morning of July 30th and met the other volunteers at 7:00 a.m. at COR.  There were nine of us in total who would make the 2-1/2 hour trip to Joplin, regardless of the high 90 degree temps for the day.  Carol, our leader, provided a brief orientation with instructions on what to expect and what we might be assigned once we reached Joplin.  This was Carol’s third mission trip to Joplin.  She use to live near Joplin and unfortunately knew a teenager that had died in the tornado.  We were able to purchase masks from Carol that we would need if we were assigned debris removal.  We decided on our car pools, loaded up the cars with all the supplies that we each brought, and anxiously started on our journey towards Joplin.

We arrived in downtown Joplin and awaited our assignments from an Americorps representative.  Things looked pretty normal.  It looked like just another busy Saturday with several stores open and some traffic moving thru town.  Little did we know that just two miles down the road lay the start of the incredible ruins where the tornado touched down and took 116 lives, adults and children.

We were excited to hear that we were assigned debris removal at three homes and learned that we should first rake the debris, scoop it up with a shovel and place it in a wheel barrel to avoid being injured by nails, glass, sharp metal, etc.  After contacting the three owners of the property it was determined that one owner needed someone with heavy equipment to remove trees that fell on their property before other debris could be removed. The second owner said that we would have to track down the new buyer of the house to sign a release to enter the property since the house was sold right before the tornado hit and the sale was now a legal matter.  The third owner said that debris had been cleared already from their property.  We were disappointed that we couldn’t immediately get to work in helping these folks. 

We then moved on to load a U-Haul for a woman and her son whose apartment complex was destroyed in the tornado.  After the tornado, they had salvaged some of their belongings and brought the items to her mother’s garage in the part of Joplin that was not hit by the tornado.  The woman and her son managed to find another place to live in Springfield, MO,  and needed help loading the U-Haul.  When our team arrived at the garage and walked in with our work gloves on ready to help, they had a brief look of disbelief and gratitude that strangers showed up out of nowhere to help them.  Although we never met these people before, we all quickly bonded and got the job done.

We then drove into what I can only describe as an obliteration of a neighborhood that stretched on for miles.  We parked, got out of our cars, and were stunned by what we saw.  There were streets with driveways, but no houses where the tornado had ripped them off their foundation, blew them apart, and scattered them in piles and piles of rubble.  There were large pieces of thick steel wrapped around tree limbs like ribbons, mangled cars where rescue and recovery teams sprayed white X’s on their doors, sprawled within the piles of rubble.  The high school was completely shattered with large pieces of thick metal beams tossed and twisted.  We saw the hospital that was destroyed, the church that was destroyed with only a metal cross standing, and trailers that drug stores like CVS and Walgreen’s were operating to provide needed prescriptions.  While the tornado occurred on May 22nd, we saw workers just setting up the government FEMA trailers at the local airport for the victims who lost their homes.

We then drove to a Relief Center and signed in as volunteers. The Relief Center provided those who lost their homes and contents a place to pick up toiletries, diapers, soap, other basic needs without cost, and to select donated clothes for both adults and children.   We were assigned unpacking, sorting, and helping survivors find the right sizes and types of clothes they were seeking for themselves or their kids.  Several of us helped a young woman about 24 years of age who had no use or movement of her right arm which was bandaged.  She was looking thru boys toddler clothes and held up a shirt and turned to us and said “I lost my son in the tornado, he was two years old, but was small for his age because he was a preemie baby. He had this same shirt.”  We remembered that Carol had told us earlier in the morning that it was important for us to take the time to listen if victims began to tell their stories, it helps them to cope and heal when they talk about what they went through.  The young woman spoke apologetically saying that she and her husband had taken cover in their house when the warning sirens went off.  She held her son and her husband laid over them.  When the tornado hit all she remembers is emergency personnel tending to her and her husband’s injuries, and waiting to hear if someone found her son.  Their son was not found alive.  They lost their home, all their belongings, and their son.  A few others told their stories, where they were when the tornado hit, how they took cover, how their homes were destroyed or family members or friends were injured or died in the tornado. There were many people who came into the tent to pick up clothes while we worked, as they searched through the piles of clothes, we all felt that if there was anything, anything at all, that we could do for them, they just needed to ask.   

While we saw the destruction of homes, buildings, schools, and the hospital, and wonder how Joplin will even begin to start to rebuild, it’s the people who survived the tornado that we met during the day that blessed our lives, by letting us provide some help as they begin putting their lives back together.  We were also touched by the other volunteers that worked beside our team who travelled in cars and by buses for several hours to do whatever they could to lend their helping hands.  We didn’t know the names of these other volunteers, but we all worked side by side just knowing with little direction, what to do.

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Summer’s Reflections on Joplin, MO

Posted on August 9, 2011 by shereer

An EF5 “grinder” tornado hit downtown Joplin, Missouri on Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 5:41 pm.  In a matter of minutes, one-third of the town was destroyed.  Hundreds of lives were lost.  Homes, schools, businesses and one of two hospitals were ripped apart in seconds by swirling winds and debris. 

Then it rained for two days.

Then the cavalry arrived — a really big cavalry.

A caravan of angels in steel-toed boots and N95 respirator masks armed with orange Home Depot waste buckets, shovels and lots of lots of compassion descended upon Joplin within hours of the tornado.  Most had no formal invitation.

Relief workers drove hundreds of miles to clear roadways of debris and slept in tents or in their vehicles in the 100-plus degree mid-west summer heat.  Donated supplies arrived by the semi-truckload, and local churches opened their doors to house volunteers from all over the country and to distribute essentials such as hygiene kits, clean clothing and bottled water.

To date, 72,000 registered volunteers have travelled to Joplin to help.  An estimated 356,000 volunteer hours have been logged by the City of Joplin, roughly 41 years worth of time.  The young and old, rich and poor, retired and not abandoned the routines of their lives to join the relief effort to do what they are able to do.

It’s clear that when the Great Project Manager in the Sky mobilizes His troops, no task is ever forgotten.   He’s planned every detail:

These people will send resources.

These people will volunteer their trucks, bulldozers, and wheelbarrows.

These people will donate food, clothing, towels and toothpaste.

These people will pick up trash.

These people will hand out water.

These people will bake comfort food.

These people will coordinate, manage, and plan.

These people will open up their homes.

These people will open up their wallets.

These people will wield chainsaws.

These people will wield hammers.

These people will wield kind words.

These people will sing.

These people will listen.

These people will donate medical care, therapy and medicines.

These people will administer tetanus shots.

These people will administer hugs.

These people will pray.

And when the dust clears, the rain stops, and the sun shines brightly again…He knows we will do all of the above.  He has faith in us to take care of each other. 

Never forget that, in the Kingdom of Heaven, nobody is ever alone.  And after the storm, you had better stand up and get ready — help is coming whether you ask for it or not. 

Trust God.  He can fix anything.

Posted in Joplin Tornado Response | 2 Comments