Tuesday's Post

Tuesday Morning we got a late start. After breakfast we went by Forest Park Baptist Church to hand out more of our flyer's. Their disaster relief station is called "Mission Joplin". It is their bus barn turned into a relief station. They really got it going on!!!! After a family checks in they are giving a "personal shopper" which is a volunteer that helps them shop for the things that they need. They have everything from bibles to stuffed toys to bathroom supplies....anything they need. They have shopping carts to drive around and gather up their things. It's really amazing the amount of supplies that are there. And then if is not in the building its in the 18 wheeler trailers parked on the lot. Every church has a fork lift to move around the huge pallets of water, Gatorade, etc.
      Mission Joplin is where we met Mr. Norman and his daughter. Mr. Norman was living in an assisted living quarters when the tornado destroyed it. He and some of his friends gathered in a closet to ride out the tornado. Although it destroyed his home, he was praising God in the fact that he was alive and protected. When Andy told him about what we were doing he was read for a picture right then and there!
     Next we met Marcy and Judy who are mother and daughter. They wanted their picture at  St. Mary's Catholic church, which is a favorite picture spot so we met them there. They were a hoot!! We had a blast with these two ladies. Marcy, the daughter lost most of her things in the storage building where her things were stored. Her Mom Judy worked at the catholic school which was in the building where we took the photos. Both women were brought to tears as they
looked around. Judy worked in the school part of the building serving lunch to the children. Because the tornado happened on a Sunday evening there was no one in the building except the priest and he got down in the bath tub and rode out the storm.

   As soon as the tornado passed and these women were able to get out and down the streets they went and bought food and water and started cooking and handing it out to volunteer workers and their neighbors. It was truly a blessing to meet them and hear their stories and laugh with them....they were hilarious!