Praying for ‘Beauty From the Ashes’ in Joplin
Churches from all across the U.S. have work teams in Joplin, Missouri, where thousands have lost everything after a devastating tornado struck that town. A Baptist church from the Hoosier State has a small team on the ground reaching out to those in need.
A work team from the First Baptist Church in Tipton, Indiana, is in the southwestern Missouri town volunteering their time helping those who have suffered great loss following what has been described as one of the most devastating tornados in U.S. history. Terri Curnutt, a member of First Baptist Church in Tipton, tells OneNewsNow that Christ’s command to “serve your neighbor” caused the team to take the ten-hour journey to southwest Missouri.
“I felt compelled to go just to help out,” says Curnutt when asked to explain her journey. “Scripture says to love thy neighbor — and that’s what this is all about…to get down there and do whatever we can, help any way we can, provide whatever supplies we can, and just reach out for a weekend, and do the Lord’s work, period.”
Traveling nearly 700 miles, the team hauled two trailers packed with water and other supplies. The volunteers from Tipton join a huge list of churches making long treks across the country to help residents put their lives back together again.
“We tried to help with Japan [after that earthquake] — we sent some care packages to Japan,” Curnutt shares. “But this is the largest-scale [relief effort] we’ve done, and it’s the first that our church has actually really got into and hit the road. It’s been a blessing for us.”
The Indiana team is not exactly sure what families they will serve, but has partnered with another Southern Baptist Church in Joplin to provide assistance.
“We’re just doing the Lord’s work, and this is for his glory,” the Christian volunteer shares. “I pray there’s some beauty from the ashes that are down there. We’re going to put our work gloves on and get busy.”
(Source: OneNewsNow)
