The Hero's Triumphant Return!!!

Hey y'all!!!

As many of you know, Joplin, Missouri was hit by a massive tornado about a year ago where almost 200 people died. My youth group had the opportunity to visit this amazing, beautiful, devastated city this past week and I must say, it was a truly amazing experience.

We often think about the bad things, like the amount of damage, the lives lost, and all those affected by these tragedies, but we forget the most astounding part of any kind of loss like this: the recovery. Joplin is a beautiful place with some of the nicest people; every one of them with a story, a spirit, and a love of their home.

We started out going door to door taking surveys. The City of Joplin has many of the volunteer groups do this at least one day to help them figure out where work needs to be done. The city doesn't even know exactly which houses have been lost, even a year later, and many times it is volunteers who tell the city which houses are gone. This empty basement is one of a handful that have not been completely cleared away on the  2400 block of Joplin Avenue. Many of the houses have been reduced to holes in the ground, and the block across the street from this one looks like it has always just been an empty field.

After we took surveys, we moved on to debris removal. That's right, even after a year it looks like a bad storm has just blown through. There are shingles on the streets, pieces of pottery and china mixed in with the dirt, and tons of "rocks". I put the rocks in quotes because they are, in fact, pieces of brick and concrete that used to be someone's house. The dirt area here was covered with rocks when we got there, and they had to be cleared before they could plant grass. The house you see in the background is new. Almost all of the houses that we saw were new.

 This house used to be a two story. You can see the staircase inside, along with a bed, a crib, a recliner, and a couch.

This is not a sock tan. That is dirt. Probably the most dirty that I have evern been in my life. It was ridiculous, but we got so much done! :D

After an afternoon of rock removal, we moved on to Mr. Aboud's house. He needed alot of landscaping done, so while the girl's cleared trees, the boys did....drumroll....ROCK REMOVAL!!! They're so lucky (I'm lying about the lucky part, that job sucks). The next day, Tina, Stacie, Robie and I pruned trees. We were awesome. Like really. Every tree in the yard, despite being broken and partly dead, were growing back. New branches were sprouting out of random places, and ivy was growing all over everything. 

Here's Robie pruning (we had loppers, but we really needed a saw), and having way too much fun doing it. But really I'm just grateful that I didn't have to go play in the rocks. 

Apparently, upon finding a branch, Daniel decided that eating it was the best course of action. The dirt and rocks must have gotten to his head. And maybe the heat...

 Much of Joplin is covered with murals and art like this. The city's love for each other is tangible. The hope, love, and faith that these people feel affects everyone that walks through it's streets. They are grateful for every volunteer, they are proud of how far they have come since the tornado, and they persevere through every hurtle and setback.

 This last MWT was different. It was moving, but it was simple. I've worked on homes damaged by hurricanes in New Orleans. I've worked with the homeless in Atlanta. I've worked on myself in Colorado. Nothing was like this. These people have so much faith, so much love for God, and you can feel it everywhere. Their faith is stronger because of what they've been through. They are healing as a community, not as a bunch of individuals. When you ask for a person's story, you get their story as well as the story of their block, of their friends, and of their family. They are one body, and it is amazing.