As we awoke this morning on our last day, we made it a mission to love on both people affected by the tornado, with other missionaries, and most important, we wanted to break off from our little group at lunch time and go sit with others and build relationships! And it was awesome! Personally I sat with a group from Arkansas and we shared about Jesus, we traded stereo types we had of each other (they thought the girls were hairy legged, tree hugging vegetarians!). Pretty funny stuff. At the same table, I sat with a mother of twins, Roxy, that was staying with a friend at the time when the tornado hit, she jumped on her twins, covered them both and the entire house around her disappeared. The only marks she had on her other than a few scratches, was a bruise the size of a finger print on one of her arms from where one of her girls was holding on so tight!
As for our work for the day, Ashton and Cindy again rocked the kitchen and produced more meals today than any other day so far, well over 500 meals! And at the end of the day Lisa, the kitchen manager was in tears as our wonderful women were leaving. They made such an impression and worked so hard and did so well that they will be missed. I know firsthand that without Ashton and Cindy, there would have been lots of hungry workers and tornado victims. Bob, Harris and Dave were kings of the tents. Bob and Harris built a ply wood floor in the furniture tent, keeping patrons safe and keeping things organized. The three of them also brought in supplies from all over and kept the shelves stocked. But best of all, they were able to take time and pray with a number of victims, missionaries and also staff at the Joplin Family Worship Center. It was amazing! As for Chelsea, Cassie and myself, we had a day of transition as we helped train other people in filling orders, keeping everything stocked and most of all, loving on victims, showing them compassion no matter what kind of mood they were in and praying with them. Today we were all blessed with wonderful yet heart breaking stories and many tearful hugs.
There was actually a story that we had heard where a 7 year old girl was with her mom, tornado ripped the roof off their house and before the mother could react, the tornado sucked the little girl up! Having lost her little girl among many of her possessions, this mother was wrecked! However, the next day a miracle happened and this mother received a phone call that they have found her little girl alive!!! FIVE MILES away from her house, and she didn't have a scratch on her! And when asked how she got there, she said "Angels flew me here". It was evident Angels were in abundance the day of the tornado. Well today Chelsea and Cassie met this little girl and her mother while serving food. This little girl was shy and humble and was truly saved by Angels, what an amazing story!!
As we were wrapping up our final day, I was again very proud of our team. I heard from many of the full time staff there how sad they were that we were going and there was actually a few of them that broke down in tears. And I guess to understand the sincerity of it all, there are literally hundreds of volunteers coming though this place on a daily basis, and these people are seeing so many faces that I am surprised they remember names. In fact we all have to write our names on duct tape and slap them on our chests just so we are not called "Hey you!"
So again, I know I have said it many times before, but I am SUPER proud of this team and everything that was accomplished. We did everything I was hoping and so much more. We shared Jesus with victims, we connected with them, we loved them, we prayed, cried and we even laughed with them. Just as important, we established relationships and strong bonds. We all have new Facebook friends and if God feels another trip down here is needed, we will feel truly blessed!
This is one of about 10 tents holding supplies for the tornado victims
Picture of part of the Worship Center
Area where we served Meals on Wheels, and this place had 13 senior citizens who perished in a low income senior housing complex.
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