So after Camp this summer, I was able to spend a month in Alabama helping with the tornado clean up. I was working with AIM’s short term missions department helping with the teams coming in. It was a blast. I really enjoyed being able to minister to people by meeting some of their physical needs, and sweating alongside them.
The amount of destruction that happened down there is staggering. I was in India when that all took place, so I never saw it on the news or anything. I was shocked at the amount of damage. And there had already been months of clean up by the time I got there. There aren’t any pictures posted on this blog, and that’s because I really didn’t take any. I brought my camera with me several times, but never felt comfortable taking pictures. I would see an empty foundation with debris scattered all over the field and wonder if anyone died in that house. Then taking a picture didn’t seem like such a good idea. Talking to people that where there and lived through it was very rewarding. There are so many miraculous stories of people that should be dead that God spared.
It’s going to take years for that area to recover from those tornados. The amount of actual work that we were able to get done pales in comparison to what needs to be done. But our main goal was to reach out to people, and show them that they are loved. We had so many participants come through with hearts of Gold, and I got to see God use their willingness to serve and sacrifice themselves, change the hearts of people who have suffered there. While talking to a local guy, he said in reference to all the people that came from all over the country to help out, “These tornados showed me there are still good people left in this world”. These peoples hearts are broken and soft. There is a lot of work left to be done, and a lot of healing that needs to take place in that land…………. MT
The leadership team…………… Daaaaaa Bears
