Last week, I was blessed to road trip out to Moore, Oklahoma to serve with Adventures in Missions in tornado relief. It was one of the best weeks of my life!
Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what the week was like…
First, this trip allowed me to reconnect with my best friend from high school, Kirstin. We haven't talked much over the last four years but it didn't take long for us to become inseparable once more!
We took pictures at each of the state signs on the way… we drove through South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama (with a night in Birmingham), Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma! Of course, we were most excited to see the Oklahoma border.
While in Oklahoma, we stayed at City Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter in Oklahoma City. If you have any interest in homeless ministry, look up this organization. They have a huge program where residents commit to stay there for almost a year as they attend chapel 6 times a week, local churches on Sundays, study the Bible full time, and serve in the homeless shelter. It's awesome!
Our first night, we played some games and got acquainted with the fantastic group of people that we were blessed to serve alongside throughout the week. We had people from Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Connecticut, California, Florida, Arizona, and Colorado!
The city of Moore passed an ordinance that volunteers are supposed to rest on Sundays, so we spent our first full day attending church and then touring the affected neighborhoods. We walked through different areas and prayed for the people who lived there, volunteers, the families of those whose lives were lost, and more. On this day, God laid Nehemiah 8:10 on my heart to pray over those affected by the tornado: "Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
This day was exactly what we needed to process what had happened before getting to work the next day. It was a day of tears, prayers, worship, and quiet reflection.
It felt like we were driving through a war zone.
In some areas, the destruction was as far as you could see. Entire neighborhoods were gone.
We also visited the elementary school where seven third-graders were killed during the storm.
As we walked through the memorial, we met Karen, a first grade teacher who threw herself over her students to protect them. When a wall fell on them, it broke her back, but her students' lives were saved because of her heroism. We prayed for Karen and found our spirits lifted as we talked to her. She is expected to make a full recovery in 3-5 months! She told us she has seen most of her students in the past few weeks and just wants them all to achieve closure and enjoy their summers. Her husband (pushing her wheelchair) beamed with pride.
On Monday, we got to work! We spent the first half of the week doing debris removal– lots of carrying, shoveling, wheelbarrowing and assembly line-passing trash from foundations and yards to the curb where trucks would come by to remove it. The second half of the week was spent searching through the debris of a 92-year old professor's home for anything salvageable. We learned a lot about him through that process and were honored to serve such a remarkable man in this way.
Here are the before and after shots of the first lot we worked on… it felt so good to see such a clear change!
Here is another yard we cleared…
… and the two piles of debris we gathered from that lot.
In addition to clearing a lot of land, we also met some really wonderful people and prayed with them as they continue on this process of healing and restoration.
We met Mr. Albert, who has not had electricity (or A/C!) since the storm. Every family on this street had chairs in their driveway because it was too hot to sit inside. Food trucks came through to feed these families. Please pray their electricity gets turned on SOON. Can you imagine going this long without electricity?
We met Mr. Marty, who hid in his home's hallway with his wife during the storm. They decided to put on their motorcycle helmets and the decision saved their lives. When the walls fell on top of their heads, they were able to pull their heads out of the helmets which were wedged between debris. They would have died without that protection. Their yard was littered with debris from the local middle school… including entire lockers! Mr. Marty was very upbeat and excited about the new house (and storm shelter!) they would be building soon.
We met Dave, a firefighter who lives ten miles from where the twin towers once stood. He told us about his experiences working cleanup after 9/11– his first experience in disaster relief. He has since started a non-profit and has served in relief for every natural disaster since 9/11 including Katrina in New Orleans, Sandy in New Jersey, and the tornado in Joplin. He still has trees down in his own yard from Sandy but spends every day off serving others, so he still hasn't gotten around to his own house!
And, in the midst of all of the hard work and emotional moments, we also had a blast! We spent our last night exploring downtown Oklahoma City– where I learned the Texas Two Step, ate gelato, biked through a park, and danced the polka. It was a night I'll never forget!
On top of all of that, Kirstin and I were able to stay with Skylar, a future World Race squad mate on our way to and from Oklahoma. This was my first time meeting a member of my squad and it made me so excited for training camp (in just 3 weeks!!!) and the race!
As I look back on my week in Oklahoma, my heart overflows with thankfulness. God is so, so good.
I am thankful for Adventures in Missions. This was my first time serving with them and it really confirmed that this is an organization that I will love working with during the race. I loved their approach to missions, their emphasis on flexibility, and their eager desire to follow the Holy Spirit's lead in every ministry decision.
I am thankful for every member of my Oklahoma team. It was a beautifully diverse group. There were teenagers and a grandmother. There were people from all over the country. There was a mink farmer and a woman who trains the astronauts who fly the space shuttle and students and future missionaries and more. Each heart there represented Jesus in a unique way, and I loved seeing Him in each person I met.
I am thankful that God has shown me that I will truly be fulfilled and content and joyful when I am serving Him— even if I never have a moment of privacy and even if I only get to talk to Grant once in a week and even if the ministry I am assigned is hard physical labor in the hot sun and even if there are team changes or leadership changes and even if I can't always see the fruit of my labor. Even in the hardest moments this past week, I was filled with true joy. My heart was full with the assurance that I was right where I was supposed to be. It was beautiful and wonderful and gave me so much peace about the world race.
I am thankful that God has preserved me, my home, and my family. He gives and takes away, and He will be glorified at all times. I saw this week that everything I own could be a pile of trash in a matter of minutes. It could happen to me one day. But so far, God has preserved me and my family, and I am truly thankful for His protection.
I am thankful that God was with me even on the travel days. When I spent three hours in the middle of the night driving through rural Alabama in thick darkness and heavy fog, I was scared, but God was faithful and protected me every minute. When I had to spend hour upon hour in the car, God gave me the patience I needed to not just endure but actually enjoy the journey.
I am thankful for the nightly team meetings we had in Oklahoma. Those nights allowed me to glimpse the heart of my teammates, and my God, in a new way. It made me excited for team time with my future world race team and gave me a new appreciation for the diversity of the body of Christ.
I am thankful for the opportunity to share missions with each one of you. I loved posting pictures and statuses to Facebook all week. I loved being a part of what God is doing in Oklahoma, and I loved sharing that journey with each of you. I am thankful for this blog and the opportunity to share what God is doing around the world with each of you as I go on the race. I see this as a huge opportunity and my heart truly delights in sharing my adventure with people who God has serving in important ways back home. I am honored to serve God and you in this way! Thank you for reading and commenting and not removing me from your Facebook news feed. 😉
You, my dear friends, are the best community I could ever ask for. Thank you for praying for me and encouraging me through texts and Facebook or blog comments. Thank you for donating your hard-earned money so that I can continue serving God around the world, wherever and however He calls me to do so. Thank you for your support. You are the bride of Christ, and you are truly beautiful.
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I still have to raise $1,310 to cover the cost of The World Race, so if God lays it on your heart to help send me out by supporting me financially, click "Support Me" on the left to make a tax-deductible donation online. Or, cut out the 3% online processing fee by writing a check to "Adventures in Missions" with "WARDKALEIGH" in the info line and mailing it to:
Adventures in Missions
PO Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
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If you feel led to help cover the cost of my personal expenses (supplies/gear, flight to launch city, immunizations), you can contact me personally for more information. I am paying for as much as I can out of own pocket, but I appreciate any donations for these costs as well!
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