We get on Facebook and start asking for more donations and then we realize, there are no hotels to stay in down there right now, we need a place to stay so, I ask for a camper.
Our friends the Engmans quickly respond and a pop up camper is offered up for FREE. The donations start pouring in. Friends and friends of friends have been amazing in their support of complete strangers donations start arriving. When we come home to a porch full of donations my heart fills.
It takes us about eleven hours to get to Joplin with kid potty breaks :-) We are told that we can use the shower and bathroom at a Methodist Church in Joplin and set the pop up, up in the parking lot. Sounds great yet, the neighborhood is a bit sketchy. I told the kids "God wouldnt bring us here to help others to have us die" I believe what I am saying but man, my days of being the tough chick from Brooklyn has hidden somewhere deep within me with age cause, Im scared.
We are up rather early the next day and decide to go and check out some of the damage. We are driving through Joplin loving how much character the homes have here and then WHAM! it hits, the devastation. That is what strikes you about tornadoes. You drive around, all is calm, one house is fine and the next is flattened. We thought we might be a little less effected with the damage as we just got back from, Birmingham. NOPE - we cannot believe what we are seeing. Trees are stripped of its bark and there is so much metal. Where we were in Birmingham, the damage was centered more on neighborhoods of residence. Here there are hospitals, medical buildings, retail stores and it was all in people's yards and on their homes. We get back in the car and there is complete silence. Its had to see the lives of these people just out there for all of the world to see. To see walls gone but clothes hanging in the closet or towels still hanging over shower doors, it just doesnt make sense.
We head to the disaster relief site, Ignite Church. We meet up with our Blood & Fire friends who already have the smokers going (its only 9am) After we all reconnect with hugs(these guys are from all over the country, they come together at disaster sites and just feed people)we talk about the plan for the day - two shift back to back, no break of feeding people. I mean they FEED people (from all of the relief workers, to people like us who donate their time and the newly homeless) The food is unreal, I have said it hundred times and I will say it again, the chicken is the best I have ever tasted in my life (if you know me, thats a true compliment as I am very picky and verbal about food). They arent just handing out hot dogs, they are making BBQ, chicken, burgers, veggies - DE LISH!!
This place (Ignite Church) has an amazing system. You check in, you are handed a form, you write down your basic but immediate needs, hand it to Lizzie, she takes it and hands it off to someone who runs into the Church and finds all of the items on the list. If they have it, you get it. She then tells you to come visit our table where they will recieve a free meal. The victims are very glassy eyed. They are truly shell shocked. I asked a woman how she was doing today as I hand her a plate of food. She says "I am fine" and the tear immediately start to roll down her face and then says "No, Im not fine, I do not know why I said that I am" and continues on down the line. This happens all day long. People just break down. My heart is heavy. The people keep coming, as Lizzie takes their orders for what their basic needs are, I feed them and she calls them when their donations are ready for pick up.
As my husband cooks, loads and reloads drinks in the cooler, moves food from location to location, the kids and I get the food line going. An elderly woman named Margie walks up slowly with cane in hand and asks me what is for lunch. I tell her what I have and as we both hold her plate I ask her, how are you today? She starts sobbing. I run around the table and hug her. I walk her to the table and ask her to tell me what she is feeling. She said "I am a faithful woman and I just do not understand what I went through". I told her that God got her through it, he will continue to get you through it and asked, what did happen"? As the tears streamed down her face she said "it was my nephews birthday, I had just brought his cake upstairs and noticed he wasnt behind me when it all came crashing down on me. I was buried alive in seconds, thats how fast it happened. She continued, I thought I would die under there. After what had seemed like forever, my Pastor found me. He didnt forget about me. He tried to get a hold of me and when he couldnt he decided, Im looking for her myself. He said that he saw my nephew just standing there with his little red head just staring at where my place came crashing down on me. The Pastor said "that is how I knew exactly where to find you, his red hair". We hugged and hugged as she cried. She then went on to tell me how sad she was that her son didnt come and check on her for hours and she hasnt heard from him since. I told her my own story of my Granmother on her death bed and my father's lack of caring during that time and that people just do not change and to not take it personally as hard as it is. I said "its his issue not yours" She thanked me for saying that and I then asked her if we could pray? She said "yes" and we did. I felt someone wrap their arms around me during the prayer, I thought it was someone from my team nope, a complete stranger joined in to pray for Margie (makes me tear up to even type that). She said that she didnt have her bible "well Margie, I just happen to bring some with me" I said and I handed her a Bible. She hugged it and thanked me over and over. That my dear friends is exactly why I am called to do this. To personally touch these people. The human touch in all of this is so incredibly important.
I can tell you stories of the devastation, go on and on about the stories we heard but, I will leave you with Margies. A story of a faithful woman who was buried alive, saved and then loved on by a complete stranger. I do not know how she is doing today. I had to jump back in my line to continue feeding people but my hope is that she is just a bit more at peace. She touched my heart and will stay with me forever. Wont you add Margie and the people in Joplin to your prayers?
If you want to help in anyway please feel free to contact Mike or myself personally. Between, Alabama, Minneapolis and Joplin, there are ways you can personally touch someone as well. It will change you, I promise
Nicole & Mike
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