At the end of April, Alabama experienced a series of deadly tornadoes. Buildings were destroyed, trees were down, and the death toll was shocking. It's hard to think of a reason why God would let something like that happen. But after my trip to Joppa, Alabama I witnessed some of the blessings He provided to these people that have helped them cope with their losses. God works in mysterious yet beautiful ways.
My team and I spent five days in Joppa. Our assignment was to rebuild a house that was completely destroyed in the tornado. There were two families that needed help and two teams that were there to serve. The first family was an older couple who had spent three years building their house themselves. They lived in the house for around five weeks before the tornado came and completely destroyed it. The other team was assigned to them. The second family was who our team primarily helped. This house belonged to a man whose stepson was in the house alone with his two children during the tornado. The three of them saw the tornado coming and hid in the bathroom. The entire house was destroyed, but they walked out without a scratch. Before the tornado, the stepson was an atheist. He walked out of the destroyed house as a believer.
It wasn't difficult to see the path of the tornado in their area. There were trees uprooted and destroyed clearly displaying the path. It was emotionally hard to hear all the stories and to see all the damage done, but truly amazing how strong these families were throughout the week. After the third day, we had two walls up. That night a terrible storm came through with 75 mph straightline winds. The next morning it looked like another tornado had hit-- there were even more trees down, store signs everywhere, and a long line of telephone polls were down. But the saddest part was that by the time we got to the site, we saw that one of the walls had gotten knocked down and destroyed by the storm. We then had to evacuate to a safer place because another storm was coming through. It soon passed, but we weren't able to get much done for the rest of the day because of rain. I felt sad for the family, but they were so calm and strong throughout the whole thing. Instead of being frustrated, they just started back to work on that wall and worked even harder than before. They were so inspiring.
By the end of the fifth day (the last day), we had almost all of the walls up! After working hard for a while, some of us broke off to hand out quilts to nearby families who were affected by the tornado. We went door to door and handed out these hand-made quilts from another church in Alabama who prayed over every single knot. This was the hardest part of the trip. Talking with, crying with, and praying over these people who had lost everything. Their stories were heart-wrenching and it is truly amazing how strong they are. That evening, Pleasant Grove had an appreciation dinner for all of the teams. (This little church really provided for us that week!) At the dinner, both families stood up and gave speeches about how grateful they were. It was so emotional--I think almost everyone in that room was crying.
Now, I know it doesn't seem like there were many blessings from what I just wrote, but trust me. One of the days we were working on the house, a neighbor came and talked to us. She was telling us about how pretty much everyone in their neighborhood had damage from the tornado. She also told us that before the storm, no one on their street was talking to one another. They didn't get along. As she was telling us this, we looked up to find three neighbors helping build the house. The tornado brought them together. We also learned that the storm had brought seeds and planted them all around their area. They were growing pumpkins, corn, tomatoes, and other foods that no one had even planted. So even though they lost everything, God planted these seeds that provided them with food during these hard times.
What these people went through is unbelievable. It's amazing to me how they are still standing--and how they are each slowly coming to Christ. I hope I can come back next year to help them/help more people like them. These families are the ones who fall in between the cracks. They don't get a lot of help from people because they live in such a small town. That hurts my heart.
Here is a prayer I wrote in my journal on my last night in Alabama:
"Lord, please help these people. Please send more to help them rebuild their homes and lives. I pray with my whole heart that they come to You. That they find You, Lord. They need You and You are helping them out in more ways than they even know. You are so graceful Father, and loving! Thank you for this trip. I needed it just as much as these people needed my help. It's all You. I pray I can take what I learned back home with me and that I can tell others what I have experienced. And that I can tell others of Your miraculous ways--Your blessings in disasters, Your blessings in all things. You give and take away, but You are always here for us. You don't let us go. You take care of us and hold us. I can't put into words how grateful and thankful I am for You, Lord. And I pray again for these families. They need You. In Your loving name, Amen."
There is no way I could have written everything from that week on here, so if you want to hear more details just ask me!
Some of the damage from the tornado
The house at the end of the week
A shed we built for the stepson to keep all of their belongings safe
