A team from the Dwelling Place church in Fayetteville will be in Moore, Okla., today, as they have been each week since an EF5 tornado decimated the town. They’ll be assisting families with their physical needs, such as food and water, while also tending to their spiritual needs.
Pastor Marcus Carruthers, who grew up in Oklahoma City just north of Moore, said a team from the church that is trained in disaster relief was in the devastated town the day after the May 20 tornado. They were overwhelmed by the massive destruction.
“There was an extreme need,” he said, adding when residents realized the team was from a church they came asking for prayer. “Families literally were seeking us, saying, ‘We lost our mom. We lost our neighbors.’ It was overwhelming.”
Church member Mildred Taylor, who is from New Orleans and made it through Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the devastation there, said she was unprepared for the utter destruction in Moore.
“When I got there, I cried,” she said. “The houses were totally disintegrated.”
The church team was able to be on the ground in Moore so quickly because it had been trained in disaster relief. Members were trained by the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina, and also received training through the Southern Baptist Convention disaster relief ministry. With the training, teams are able to respond immediately and assist in the early phases of disaster relief. These trained teams, from the Dwelling Place and other churches, can offer aid and comfort to families while emergency officials are still at work searching for survivors.
Part of the training is learning how to sensitively respond to families going through catastrophic events, as well as how to stay safe and ensure the safety of others in situations that are often still dangerous, Carruthers said.
That was the case for the Dwelling Place team. They encountered grieving families, stunned by the loss of their homes, as well as those searching for family members, unsure if they were alive or dead.
“People were in a daze. They didn’t know what to do,” Carruthers said.
BASIC NEEDS
Team members handed out gift cards to families so they could buy supplies and helped them clean up debris while searching for mementos and important papers amid the rubble.
“We helped them contact insurance companies and do basic things,” Carruthers said. “They didn’t know where to begin. A lot of them don’t have anything - no sentimental photos, no documents.”
The teams used a check list to help people begin to replace lost documents and identification, such as driver’s licenses, birth certificates, titles to automobiles and mortgage papers.
Carruthers said the disaster relief teams from the church are working first on helping meet immediate needs, such as food, shelter and clothing. The second phase is restoration, where they will forge a long-term partnership with specific families and help them rebuild their homes and lives. The church is adopting about 25 families and they will work with them in the coming years.
“It’s a long-term relationship in major disasters,” Carruthers said. “We end with restoration where we see them almost restored back to normality.”
Shonna Seacrest, director of missions and outreach for the church, said members responded to the call for help immediately by donating nonperishable items, toiletries and clothes. They packed up items for distribution and sorted and stored the clothes to be handed out as needed. Many also volunteered to provide hands-on help in Moore, Seacrest said.
POWER OF PRAYER
Seacrest said it’s important for the church to help others in need.
“That’s what we do,” she said. “We want to show love and spread God’s love by helping any way we can.”
Taylor said the church is simply following the example of Jesus.
“When Jesus was here, he served and he’s still serving through us today,” she said.
Taylor said that for her helping those in need in Moore is a way to share her love of Christ with others.
“I have seen so many amazing things happen to me that have been due to nothing but the grace of God, and I want other people to experience the same thing I am feeling, for them to be able to tap into Him and know that at any time they can say, ‘Lord help me,’” she said.
Taylor said the teams traveling to Moore believe that prayer helps and they stop often to pray with those they encounter.
“You stop and you pray and you lay hands on people and let them know that even though we’ve just met, we’re just conduits for God’s love,” she said.
Terry Bankston said the church has been collecting donations of everyday items people often take for granted, including cleaning supplies, soap, toilet paper and detergent. They hope to also be able to help families with appliances. Even if someone has no money to donate, he can help in other ways by hauling supplies, feeding and comforting those in need or by sorting donations, Bankston said.
In addition to the supplies, the teams have also been handing out Bibles. Each one includes a handwritten note from a church member.
Today, the church is helping to sponsor a picnic and fundraiser in Oklahoma for those affected by the tornado.
Carruthers said many businesses in Northwest Arkansas have donated supplies to help with the relief efforts.
“We’re really proud of Northwest Arkansas and how they’ve really stepped up in amazing ways,” he said.
In the weeks since the tornado, Carruthers said he has seen progress but a lot of work remains. He anticipates that the church will continue to send volunteers to the area for the next year or two.
“We have a heart for the people of Oklahoma,” he said. “And, I believe we are most like Christ when we are giving.”
Information on the church is available at dwellingplace.org or by calling (479) 442-9200.
Religion, Pages 12 on 06/15/2013