Last week I went to Alabama with the youth group from University Presbyterian Church, where I am one o the pastoral interns, and joined in the disaster relief in the area northwest of Fort Payne. By the looks of the trees and the debris that was strewn about, I could tell that there were multiple tornadoes that touched down in the area, but the National Weather Service has only been able to verify on EF-4 tornado that was about 1.5 miles wide. Our team of 13 (including two small children of 8.5 months and 2 years) left the week with heavy hearts for those affected, and so I wanted to share some reflections on the trip.
First, the trip was sobering. The pictures and videos on the internet and television don’t truly depict the utter destruction that a tornado can bring about. We worked at two houses, removing un-burnable debris and piling everything that would burn on top of the foundations. Later, we looked at the Google Street View of these two homes, and literally things were unrecognizable. In the picture, the grass was green, trees were blooming, and houses were intact and looked fairly nice. What I was sorting through was discolored, smelled, torn, littered with glass and shingle, and dead. The families that lived in these homes survived, but I cannot see how.
Second, the work was rewarding. As I was sorting through the rubble, I knew that what I was doing was of help to these two families. They couldn’t do it themselves, or else it would have already been done. There were plenty of homes that had already been repaired and rebuilt by the time we got there. These people needed us. We also primed two wooden sheds that were built for two families who had their homes either damaged or lost entirely. They were just 8′x12′ structures and cost a total of $600, but I could tell that the people they were built for felt blessed to have them.
Third, the stories of survival were amazing. The second family whose shed we painted hid in the back of a bread truck that they had buried 15 years ago. The tornado took every home on their street, but the bread truck stayed in the ground. They are currently living in trailers provided by FEMA. They may have lost everything, but they swore that God was with them as the EF-4 tornado placed a bullseye on them.
However, their story wasn’t as amazing as Miss Grace’s. Like everyone else she knew that tornado producing storms were on their way. So, she had been watching out her kitchen window all day hoping that nothing would happen close to her. However, she saw the sky essentially disappear as the same tornado bared down on here home. Instead of running and hiding, however, Miss Grace went out on her back porch and prayed with the authority of Christ over Satan that the tornado would lit before it came to her home. As the power lines 150 yards away were ripped out of the ground, she decided it was a good time to step inside. As the tornado got closer, her deceased parents trailer was dragged through her back yard, the windows in her home shattered, and the air conditioner in her bedroom fell out of the window. She said that she wasn’t scared, but screamed out of frustration. She had nothing to fear because God was on her side. Then, miraculously, the tornado lifted and went over her house and her neighbors’ homes. Her carport and outbuilding were taken, but she was left unharmed. She had prayed to God for deliverance, and God had provided.
Fourth, the prosperity gospel, American dream, and desire for stuff cannot relate to a tornado’s destruction. You may know that I don’t like anyone who says that in order to be blessed with health, wealth or some other gain, they need to give more money. I don’t like the American dream, because the American dream is anti-gospel at its core. I don’t like it when people desire stuff more than they desire the propagation and proclamation of the Gospel. But I fall into the same trap as everyone else. I want stuff–nice stuff. I want a nice, safe home, with a nice TV, a great kitchen, a giant library, an in-ground swimming pool, and plenty of grass so that I can plant a garden and justify buying a riding mower. I want to drive a nice car–not a Mazda, but a Mercedes, or something like it.
Tornadoes don’t care what you have, and if you wasted thousands of dollars on stuff, they will rip it out and off of the ground and throw it all over the neighborhood. The words of Jesus in Luke 12 come to mind: 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Investing our money in God and the mission of God–that is what a tornado cannot destroy. You don’t need home owners insurance on your salvation or for the salvation of others. Why buy the 50-inch TV when you could give Best Buy $500 dollars less and by the 40-inch TV that isn’t Sony but is rather some brand that no one has ever heard of? Then, give that $500 to the Church. The same principle applies with every purchase in life. Does that mean we can have nothing in life that is nice? No, it just means that where you place your money is where your heart truly is.
That’s just some of my thoughts from this trip. I am going to post some pictures later (there will be more on Facebook), hopefully with some before and after shots.
As for some humor on the trip, we noticed that if you change one letter, Fort Payne becomes Fart Payne. Also, as the title of this blog states, You can’t burn water.
