Missouri Tornado Update

Dear friends in Christ,

As we looked out the city hall windows to severely damaged buildings and scraped-bare lots, we spoke with the woman behind the counter. "Our town is more than buildings," Julie Johnson told us. "Our town is people. And our town will recover."

I have just returned from three days in Missouri, where Larry Gustafson (LDR-Missouri Coordinator) and I visited tornado-affected areas and met with Lutheran pastors. Our travels took us from St. Louis to Springfield, Pierce City, Joplin, and Kansas City.

Pierce City, a community of 1,800, had a downtown business area of historic buildings. On Sunday, May 4, tornadoes tore through and destroyed approximately 100 homes and up to 40 percent of the downtown businesses. While most of the town survived, it's heart has been damaged. But, as Julie reminded us, the town is more than buildings. The town will recover. And Lutheran Disaster Response, a cooperative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, will be part of its recovery.

LDR is managing the Missouri response through Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri (Alan Erdman, President). Larry Gustafson, LDR-MO Coordinator, notes that disaster recovery efforts are in full swing. Much has been accomplished in terms of restoring utility services, removing debris and trees from roads, personal and business properties, schools and churches. But there still is a vast amount of work to do.

A total of 74 counties in Missouri have been declared federal disaster sites. LDR is working with the federal, state, county and local governments, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the University of Missouri, many community-based and faith-based organizations. LDR will also provide assistance and resources to the local or county based "long-term recovery" committees over the next years.

Pastor James Banner, Prince of Peace (Springfield) described how a group of congregational volunteers helped to clear field debris for a local farmer. "It was a transformational experience," he said. "Our folks came back tired and faith-enriched." Pastor James Schnackenberg, Good Shepherd (Joplin) told of his congregation's outreach to people in their neighboring community. "We didn't sustain any losses ourselves, but our friends and neighbors did." As Larry and I met with the pastors, they all expressed interest in how they could help in this disaster response and how they could prepare their congregations for future disasters.

How can you help people like Julie and her neighbors in the 74 tornado-affected counties of Missouri?

You can pray, as individuals and as congregations. I have seen again and again how disaster survivors are strengthened when they know people across the country are praying for them.

You can volunteer. Contact Larry Gustafson for current information, at 1-314-754-2782.

You can provide financial support.

ELCA DOMESTIC Disaster Response - "Midwest Tornadoes"
PO Box 71764
Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764

Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
Credit card gifts via the web: www.elca.org/disaster

LC-MS World Relief and Human Care - "Midwest Tornadoes"
P.O. Box 66861
St. Louis, MO 63166-9810

Credit card gift line: 1-888-930-4438

Yours in Christ,

Gil Furst

Gilbert B. Furst (written on July 10, 2003 at 4:15 p.m.). Director for ELCA Domestic Disaster Response (Division for Church in Society) and Lutheran Disaster Response (a cooperative ministry of the ELCA and LC-MS) 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago 60631 PHONE: 773-380-2822 FAX: 773-380-2493 Please visit our new website