Restoring Joplin

A Church’s Response to Crisis

On Sunday, May 22, 2011, an EF-5 tornado hit the city of Joplin, MO leaving 153 people dead and over 1000 injured. The Joplin tornado was the deadliest single tornado since modern recordkeeping began in 1950. The tornado had winds in excess of 200 mph, was 3/4 of a mile wide and had a track lasting six miles. Lynn Fleshman of Christ’s Church, a Newfrontiers USA church in Joplin, shares about this experience…

At 6 PM on May 22, I was huddled in my basement with six friends.  Outside the tornado churned viciously, leaving a path of destruction across the city.  As we prayed and sang worship songs, I wondered what would be waiting at the top of my basement stairs.  Would I still have a home?  A neighborhood?  A city?  Thankfully, my neighborhood suffered mostly minor damage, but many had been completely destroyed.  

The next morning, the church administrative staff (of which I am a part) organized a makeshift home office and began to verify the safety of our members and attenders.  Some families lost homes and vehicles, many had damage, and others lost jobs. Tragically, some lost family members and friends.  

We invited members to gather at our church building for a meeting three days after the tornado.  Our leaders explained their plan to first do our best to care for our church family and make sure everyone had food, shelter, and clothing. Next, we would help family members and neighbors, working through our existing relationships to serve specific neighborhoods.  

The next two months were a blur of activity.  A Newfrontiers USA pastor with experience in disaster relief efforts arrived within a week and helped us set up the processes necessary to carry out our plan.  It quickly became clear that in a disaster of this magnitude, we couldn’t be all things to all people.  We decided to be what we are--the Church--and to be led by God and not the expectations of others.  This meant we would leverage our resources to meet physical needs where we were able, and would tend to the massive spiritual and emotional needs we encountered.

We met with homeowners who had severe damage to learn how volunteer teams could best serve them.    We then coordinated volunteers to match the appropriate needs to the skill level of the team.  Each day sweaty, dirty volunteers filed into our building after hours of exhausting work. We were humbled and impressed by their love for God expressing itself in compassion for our town.  

A counselor from our church offered a class for preventing post-traumatic stress disorder, which was helpful for many children and adults impacted by the tornado.  Some of our members received training which equipped them to help families navigate the application process for government aid and to help them avoid scams.

Many people contributed financially through online donations or gift cards.   A graphic designer in our church designed a t-shirt and donated the proceeds to local churches, including ours. At our Midwest Newfrontiers church conference nine days after the tornado, our Newfrontiers USA churches gave us over $4,000 in gift cards. We’re overwhelmed by the response of the Church across the nation.    

Rebuilding efforts are going strong, but many are suffering.  Victims are recovering from injuries, facing huge medical bills, looking for jobs, and discovering their insurance won’t cover all the damage.  Many are facing these problems without the hope that comes from Christ and we have many opportunities to share our hope and invite others to Him.  Our Sunday meetings have been full of people, vibrant with the Spirit and we’re experiencing God powerfully together.

Please pray for Joplin and Christ’s Church.  Let the pictures you see of wrecked homes and debris remind you of the condition of our own hearts before we met Jesus. Let those images prompt you to pray for the restoration of the lost to Christ and the renewal of many lives in Joplin.