Sunday night, May 22nd a little after 5:20, the tornado sirens in Galena started blaring. Jeff was already at the church and so I got in my car and hurried there as the church has a basement and our home does not. The church is only .8 tenths of a mile from the parsonage but it started pouring during my drive and the sky was so black. I saw folks standing outside pointing to the sky. When I got to the church, Jeff didn't even realize the tornado sirens were blowing as he was working in his office and didn't hear them. As we watched out the front doors, the rain and wind was that of a hurricane-type force. Our Associate Pastor, Paul Mooney, who lives on the outskirts of Joplin (about 4 miles from the church) called Jeff at 5:31 and said the tornado sirens were blowing at his house, so he didn't know if they were going to make it to our evening services on time. Jeff told him to stay home till the storm passed. At 5:40, Mary, Paul's wife, called in a panicked voice and said, "Debbie, we've been hit and we're trapped." Jeff & I left immediately, driving 85 mph to get to their house. However, the road we always use, was blocked by downed trees and power lines, so we had to go a different way and then could only get within 4 blocks. At this point, the rain is pouring and it is hailing hard. So I stayed in the car and Jeff started running. For an old, out of shape man, he said he wasn't even breathing hard when he reached their house. Thankfully, the front door of their home, which was still standing, was unlocked. Jeff rushed down the stairs to find Paul and Mary just emerging from their safe room. Paul was able to forcibly kick the door down as it had jammed shut from the force of the wind. They were very shaken but praise the Lord, safe and unharmed! Their house did receive extensive damage but was one of the homes that withstood the storm better in their neighborhood. Paul and Mary had just built this home in the summer of 2010 with a basement and safe room as Mary was very fearful of tornados. Their previous home was just one block from them and it was demolished. Pictures to follow of both their new home and their old home.
I have no patience, so after about 10 minutes of sitting and the neighbors moving some of the debris from the road, I drove Jeff's car on over to their home (did end up with a nail in the tire with a flat the next morning). I was never so glad to see my friend, Mary, and hug her neck. Amazingly, she was calm and just so grateful for life!! It wasn't long before friends and family started coming. But we were getting aggravated because there wasn't any emergency personnel in their subdivision and with many houses destroyed, we felt certain there had to be hurt people. It was probably 20-30 minutes before we heard that the tornado had hit St. John's Hospital and that it was on fire. Then we understood where all the emergency folks were. We never would have dreamed the extent of the destruction that had occured in Joplin, Missouri!
It has been confirmed by The Weather Channel that the tornado was 3/4th of a mile wide and 13 miles long. It destroyed approximately 8000 houses/apartments and 400 businesses. The number of deceased is still unclear, but around 144. If you could see the destruction, it truly is a miracle that the death toll was not in the thousands! God was so gracious!
This is a picture our son, Andy, took in front of St. John's Hospital:
The majority of these pictures I am posting are not mine.....I have copied them from others, so ask forgiveness in advance for using your pictures.
Paul & Mary have been put in the Residence Inn by their insurance company in Joplin until the repairs on their house have been made. Their son, Craig came home from Florida and spent the week with them, which along with their daughters Paula and Becky, brought great comfort to them.
The picture below is of Paul & Mary's home they moved out of 10 months ago a block from their new home. A 77 yr. old woman had bought the home and was in the master closet when the tornado hit. Amazingly, she was not seriously injured. A few days later, Paul & Mary and a group from our church as well as others was helping this woman get what items could be salvaged out of the home and put into a storage unit. Paul found a plaque on the floor that said something to the effect, "God's grace will not take you, where His love will not protect you." He showed it to the woman and told her that definitely God was protecting her. She looked at the plaque and said she had no idea where it came from, that it wasn't hers!
For some reason, this picture is so small, it's hard to see, but it is the home of another of our church families: Mike &Bonnie Hopkins. Their home was completely demolished. Mike and Bonnie were in the home and had to be rescued but thankfully, were not seriously injured. Their insurance has taken good care of them and they are now living in an apartment in Joplin until they determine their next step.There were other church members, friends and families of church members that suffered loss or damage of homes/dwellings in this tornado. One of our members was in Home Depot when the tornado struck. Several died in Home Depot, but thankfully, he was not injured. One of our members lost an aunt and a cousin in death from the tornado. A close friend, from Galena, of many of our members also died. She had gone to get pizza in Joplin for a graduation party for her son who had graduated from Galena High School earlier that day. They found her car with the seat belt still fastened, but the roof was peeled off and it was several days before they found her. Our sympathy and prayers go to all those who have lost loved ones!
A "sister" church, Grace Baptist in Joplin on 32nd street did receive damage with broken windows, loss of power, etc. However, the very next day, they stepped up to the plate and became a staging area for relief workers, supplies and to feed neighbors and volunteers. First Baptist Galena and our son's church, Metro from NWA joined arms with them in the efforts. Jeff, Fred Vogel, pastor of Grace, Andy (our son), lead pastor of Metro, and two of Fred's men, Brad Weineke and Bryce Martin formed a great team and got things organized and the ball rolling quickly in meeting many of the needs around them. Many others have helped in the administration of it, including Jesse Hales. Here is a picture of Jeff & Fred in front of our BMAA Missions Dept. trailer. They are one of many, many groups that have brought supplies and crews to us to help in the effort.
Jeff and I are very proud of our son Andy and the role he played in recruiting many to come and volunteer in the relief efforts. He was even interviewed on one of our local TV stations during the week. He worked so hard in trying to network the effort and got little to no sleep for the week he was here. Unfortunately, his body shut down on him this week and he has been in bed and very sick with strep throat, deydration and nauseau. Praying the meds work quickly and he's back on his feet soon.
The relief effort at Grace is using Andy's church, Metro's website for people to sign up if they are coming to Joplin to help. We encourage each of you to go to this site and sign in so that they will know you are coming and have a plan for where to use you. That site is:
I am going to copy and paste to the end of this posting, the letter Jeff emailed to many in his address book. We still can use YOU in many ways - especially to pray for the city of Joplin and all those who are ministering to her. Thank you to so, so many who have already responded to the call and are responding in the days and weeks ahead. God bless you over and over again!
Love to each of you. We just cannot ever take our loved ones, our friends, or our brothers and sisters in Christ for granted. We never know what a day will bring!
Jeff's letter:
Dear friend,
On Sunday evening May 22nd, a killer E-5 tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri. In response to this tragedy, First Baptist Church of Galena, Kansas partnered with Grace Baptist Church of Joplin, Missouri and Pastor Fred Vogel, to minister to our neighbors and church families who are enduring the greatest challenge of their lives. On Monday morning after the tornado, several of us met and developed a strategy to minister to the short-term needs of our community and God has touched the hearts of others to partner with us. Last week, we fed over 5,000 victims and volunteers a hot meal, provided tetanus shots to hundreds of volunteers, and collected and distributed water, non-perishable food items, personal hygiene articles, and articles of clothing. We further completed more than 400 construction projects which included sifting through the remains of houses to salvage what could be found, moving people’s belongings into storage facilities, using chain saws to clear the downed trees, repairing roofs, and many other services too numerous to mention.
On day three, we developed a long-term strategy to minister to the people. We identified the “Jerusalem” (Acts 1:8) of Grace Baptist Church, their area of ministry and influence, which includes 450 houses located in and around the church. We initially surveyed these houses and identified the specific needs of each family and then we met that need. We are going back every other day to these families to identify other needs and meet those. Our prayer is that as we develop a relationship of love with these families that we will gain their trust and will have earned a hearing as we share God’s marvelous plan of salvation with them.
The purpose of this email is to ask your help. First of all, please pray for us. We need physical strength, emotional strength, spiritual power, and wisdom to minister in a crisis that is in a constant state of flux—changing every day. Only God can meet these personal needs and so would you please pray for us?
Secondly, we ask that you pray about sending an offering to help us. We need individuals, families, Sunday School classes, small groups, and churches to help us with financial donations. Because we have no operating overhead, we assure you that 100% of every dollar given is invested through two local churches directly to the families of Joplin, a claim that no other national or international relief agency can make.
Thirdly, we could use your physical presence here in Joplin. If you can come, please call, email, or text me and we will do our very best to provide housing and some meals. We are in this for the long-term so we need help over the next year plus.
Some are collecting items to bring to Joplin and we appreciate that very much. However, I ask that you please contact me before you start collecting items because the needs are constantly changing. For example, last week we needed clothing and bottled water but not this week.
If you can help us with a financial gift, please send your tax-deductable offering to:
First Baptist Church
P.O. Box 218
Galena, Kansas 66739
Please mark your check “tornado” or “Joplin.”
I know that I have asked a lot of you, but could you please forward this email to those you know who might be able to help us? We thank you in advance anything you can do!
There is no way that television can portray the real damage here. You can see the physical damage but we see and hear the emotional and spiritual damage to people on an hourly basis. God is all over this city and I promise that you cannot come to Joplin and not be changed. The need is great! The time is now! You are needed! Please pray about helping us!
Praying that Christ will be lifted up in Joplin, Missouri!
Jeff Swart
Sr. Pastor
First Baptist Church of Galena, Kansas
417.499.0175
Email: jeffswart@jeffswart.com
