Cleanups in various communities across the United States Midwest, especially in Kentucky, a week after more than 30 deadly tornadoes ravaged it overnight on December 10.
WNG reported that Samaritan's Purse is leading the cleanup in some areas of Mayfield, Kentucky and Truman, Arkansas through its disaster relief teams. Samaritan's Purse Arkansas operation relief team lead Clay Spellman told WNG that volunteers have begun putting tarps on houses and cutting trees that were damaged by the tornadoes.
Spellman pointed out that the relief operations conducted by Christians is a good opportunity to make people feel and realize what "the church is for" while spreading the "hope of Christ" especially through team of three volunteers who have survived Hurricane Michael and its aftermath.
On Monday, Samaritan's Purse announced sending out response teams to aid the victims in various states affected by the tornadoes. More than a hundred died in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee. These exclude more than twenty who were injured and the countless homes and structures destroyed in the path of the tornadoes.
"So often people see what the Church is against, and they hear what the Church is against. This gives us a chance to show what the church is for," Spellman said.
"But this team of three gentlemen can say, 'You know what, I've gone through this. I know what this is like, and the hope of Christ is what will pull you through this.'," he added.
While First Baptist Church Senior Pastor Charles Moore told WNG that they have been going around serving hot meals to those displaced by the deadly storm through their food truck. The church's food truck is serving biscuits and gravy for breakfast and Coney dogs for lunch.
Moore also disclosed that the church's gym is also used as a distribution center that receives donations for supplies coming from various people as far as South Carolina and Oregon. While volunteers doing the repacking of supplies for distribution also have come from as far as Arkansas.
"The word got out on Facebook, and people just rallied. A pastor from Louisville called us out of the blue and said his church felt burdened. He asked if they could partner with us," Moore shared.
Moore is collaborating with King Solomon Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Charles Elliott who brought in his volunteers and 18-wheeler truck full of supplies to help out in Paducah, Kentucky. Elliot have been in ministry for 60 years and was among those who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. during the country's struggles with civil rights. Elliot disclosed helping out with First Baptist is a wonderful opportunity to express the oneness of our humanity.
"When things like this happen, it teaches us that there's not a black race or white race. Just a human race," Elliott said.
Besides Elliott, Moore disclosed working with representatives of a local Drury Inn where displaced families have been lodged after the tornadoes leveled their home along with the rest of those in Kentucky. The said families were personal hygiene items, coats, scarves, and other supplies. Moore said parents are really after surviving more than anything, just like the elderly in the community.
"We want to build relationships. How can we help? How can we love on their kids for Christmas? Most parents aren't interested in toys right now. They're just trying to think about survival," Moore revealed.
"Many times, they have no one, no family nearby," he added pertaining to the elderly.
Patti Sawyer of Bowling Green, Kentucky, on the other hand, said she does what she can to help her neighborhood. Sawyer said she has volunteered her restroom at home for those who might need it since her residence, which dates to the 1960s, is one of those left standing in the community. She also offers snacks to workers who attend to the neighborhood's cleanup.
Sawyer shared an incident where she was bothered seeing a law enforcement officer doing nothing while watching workers do the cleanup until she finally realized what was happening and it moved her deeply.
"Workers were picking up debris and moving it in my neighbor's backyard, and there was a state police (officer) standing there, watching them do it. And I'm like, 'Why is he watching them move debris? Doesn't he have something else do?' And it hit me. He was watching them because he was looking for what could be in the debris. Maybe victims of the tornado. It hit really hard," Sawyer said.
Sawyer shared that she, her husband, and her four sons, were able to survive the tornadoes by running to their basement and waited there until it passed. Afterwards, they went out and helped in the rescue of people in their subdivision in Whispering Hills.
"We grabbed flashlights and headlamps and started looking for people. We were also checking the weather app to see if there was anything else coming," Sawyer said.
