As Christians, Americans, and just your average human beings, many felt the immediate "what can I do to help?" rise up in their spirit.
Early Monday morning, Ryan and I began contacting friends and acquaintances in the ministry who are in the Joplin area. We simply asked "what can we do?" "what do you need?" "how can we best serve you?" and simply said "we are praying for you, your church, and your city." The response from our Joplin contacts was sobering.
From Fred "Six have lost their homes but not their lives. Just pray for all of us in Joplin."
From Tyler "We have had several families lose their homes and several we are unable to reach. We are trying to coordinate our support however we can but things are still a little crazy. Thank you for your prayers and support."
From Barry "THANK YOU!! Really appreciate your note! Prayer is obviously number one."
From Dan "We have a team out working to help people...thank u for prayers."
From Connie "We had two families and one elderly couple lose everything but their lives. Most of our congregation was affected. We are at a loss for words. It helps so much to know that you are all praying for us. It's the best thing you can do right now. Thank you."
What struck both Ryan and I the most was that prayer was the thing every single one of them remarked on. Every contact we made mentioned prayer. If nothing else, they wanted to know they were being covered in prayer.
The second thing we noticed was how often they kept thanking us - for simply reaching out. They were overwhelmed with what they were facing, yet they were grateful. They didn't know what to tell us to send, but they said thank you anyway. Day-by-day as the lists of specific needs were formulated, each contact ended with "thank you". Over and over. In the midst of turmoil, people were choosing to be thankful. What a testimony to the hearts of these ministers.
Then came the response from all of the people from outside of Joplin, MO. Our inboxes have seen more action in the past 5 days than they have in the past 5 years. We've had youth ministers telling us they had a group of 10, 12 or 20 ready to go to Joplin and asking us to help them with logistics. We had pastors from NH, WA, FL, CA, CO and NM telling us they had boxes of supplies ready to ship and asking where the best place to send them was. We had individual after individual telling us they had anything from baby blankets to groceries, gift cards to work gloves and asking who to send them to. We had people asking us if they could "adopt a family" that lost everything. We had more offers to help in 5 days than I have ever experienced in such a short time following a disaster. We also have to thank those who are more well-known speakers and artists than us - like Angela Thomas - who were instrumental in spreading the word to their followers.
Ryan and I began discussing peoples' reaction to this disaster compared to others - and compared to every other day, when we list needs in various ministries. People came out of the woodwork with arms stretched out, hands and hearts willing to help and serve. It was beautiful to see the body of Christ in action, working together from every state in this country to help those in need. How incredible would it be to see that every single day of every single year?! People coming together as one in Christ to build up those in need. What an amazing sight that would be! Imagine - if it's that beautiful to us to see it for 5 days - imagine how incredibly beautiful it would be not just to us, but to this nation as a whole - and to Jesus Himself - to see believers unite for such a time as this. As we work together to meet the needs of those affected by the storms, we are creating a beautiful worship song to our Lord. We are bringing Him glory and honor and praise. Isn't that what it's all supposed to be about anyway? Serving God - and serving others. So how can we capture this post-disaster unity and make it last? We have seen it after the OK City bombing, the attacks of September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, the rash of tornado outbreaks, the floods along the Mississippi and more. There are people struggling in this country every single day. Where is the unity then? Where are the outstretched hands and open hearts then? What can we do to create a body of believers working together each and every day to glorify God?
We came to this conclusion... it starts with one - and then two. Each person has a part to play. Each person has specific gifts, skills and abilities. Each has his own personality. Each has to have a willing heart. Each person has to decide to do something to help. It starts with two people who both are reaching out choosing to work together to have a greater impact. As those two work together, they bring in two more. And then two more. Before we realize it, we have a mass of people all reaching and working together. It comes down to this - each day one person has to be willing to reach out and do something THAT DAY to make a difference. Then, he needs to find someone else willing to do the same. Then they need to work together and start doing whatever it is to help. As they do, they need to encourage others to come on board. The next day, it needs to start all over again. It doesn't have to be a huge disaster-level response every day. It simply needs to be hands reaching out to serve - and serve together. Or, as was shown by the ministers of Joplin, two people willing to pray together in faith.
What are you doing today to reach out and serve?
For more information on how to help those affected by the tornadoes, please email SERVEministries@gmail.com.
