On Tuesday at suppertime, the little town where our church meets was devastated by an F3 tornado. While none of our Riverside members were hurt, one person lost their life in the storm, and dozens of others were injured... A short tour of the devastated area will make you wonder how more lives were not lost...
A favorite Mexican restaurant was completely destroyed while arguably the best barbecue joint in the county lost it roof...
The Riverside building sits just a quarter mile west of the path of the twister (undamaged), and it made sense to organize efforts from our location to try to help the hundreds of families whose homes and lives were torn apart by this unimaginable terror.
Minutes after the storm passed, I was walking down the main street of Gassville... the devastation was unspeakable... there was no power, and the darkness was interrupted only when long flashes of lightning illuminated the surreal scene: 20 power poles were snapped in half along the highway and huge chucks of debris (including large pieces of twisted metal which used to be someone's outbuilding or garage) littered the landscape as it continued to rain sideways...
Hours after the storm, several of us helped set up cots and aid at the Cotter High School gym... this devastated community is pulling together in an incredible display of support... by about 10 pm, a house to house search for survivors was undertaken by local and state law enforcement and, thankfully, found everyone who had been unaccounted for... still only one death... it is nothing short of a miracle that more people weren't killed.
Yesterday, the Riverside family met at the building and put together small 'care packages' consisting of a sandwich and an apple and a snack and a water bottle.... we took our church van closer to the devastated area, set up shop on the front lawn and, by 10 am, were hand delivering hot coffee and the care packages to anyone who needed them. Homeowners were returning to what used to be their homes for the first time to inspect the damage and collect belongings...
It was like every video you have ever seen of such a scene... people milling around in the rubble picking up the occasional special photograph or priceless keepsake...the emotions were as raw as the 5 degree wind chill, and some people simply looked lost.
The small thing we were doing (passing our hot coffee and the care packages) was much appreciated by everyone... those making repairs simply thanked us and put the food in their pocket, while others stopped and spoke about how grateful they were to be unharmed...
Last night we opened our building to anyone who needed a meal or just a warm place to hang for a while...
It is just the beginning... and it is such a small thing... but I think this is what Love looks like...
yep, this is love. This is Christianity. This is God caring for people through his Church.
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We had a ton of people say how grateful they were that Riverside was there. I even saw your dad on the news haha...as we were driving through what used to by my hometown to my fathers house, I can't describe how great It was to see the Riverside van in action.
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