Newsbrief: Tornado Relief

First Christian Church Joplin

Sometimes the national news hits close to home.

Such is the case with the tornado that ripped through Joplin, Missouri earlier this week devastating a small community in the southern part of that state.

You see, my niece and nephew spend the bulk of their summer vacation in Joplin with their father. As soon as we heard about the tornado my wife and I scrambled to find out if the twins were safe (they were, fortunately this was one of the last weekends they were scheduled to be with their mother, my sister-in-law, in St. Louis).

Within a couple of hours Week of Compassion had sent around an e-mail blast informing everyone of the devastation from the tornado and of their roll in working with churches and relief agencies right there on the ground in Joplin. The message in that e-mail blast was simple: “What can you do to help? Three things: Pray, Pay, and Stay.” That three word slogan means that what folks need most right now are your prayers, your financial contributions to relief agencies  and as strange as it sounds to stay away for the time being. On that last one, it turns out the last thing that Joplin needs right now is teams of unorganized volunteers pouring into the community. The time will come for volunteers, but right now they simply need skilled professionals and organized teams doing the heavy lifting. Week of Compassion has a special fund set-up to benefit the victims of all the tornadoes that have ravaged the US already this year, click here to learn more and to give. So we pray, pay, and stay.

But sometimes the news hits closer to our church home too, and this is one of those cases. You see, our sister church First Christian Church Joplin was largely spared by the storm. They are presently serving as a primary response center in Joplin. FCC Joplin is also the church where our Vice Moderator Sandi DeFeo grew up and was baptized. So we have a connection. Sandi has been in touch with their pastor, Rev. Fay Blevins, and has made arrangements to make financial donations directly to the church for their local relief efforts. It is a unique opportunity for us to directly support one of our sister churches.

So if you feel moved to make a donation then there are two options. You can donate to Week of Compassion and designate your gift for tornado relief

knowing that the funds will go to benefit those throughout the country who have been impacted by storms. Or you can give directly to First Christian Church Joplin knowing that your donation will go straight to one of our sister churches that is reaching out in the midst of the recovery in southern Missouri. We’ll be taking up that special collection for FCC Joplin this coming Sunday. Simply make your checks out to FCC Scottsdale (we’ll be collecting the funds here then dispersing them) and make sure to mark your donation for Fund 1034 “Joplin Tornado Relief”.