We have arrived

Twenty one Middle Schoolers and Six adult leaders and a predicted 100 degree days.

Woohooo Sedalia- We are ready for you!

One Week Finished

We worked the last three days in the field. To stay productive with the heat, we managed to motivate each other to get up at 5am each day. We were out in the field by 6:30 and stayed until noon each day. Luckily, we had a good breeze going most of the time.

When we left Thursday, we had two huge piles of debris piled up. The cows had sneaked their way back into the cleared pastures and were munching and mooing their merry way.

A farm dog befriended us in "his field" on the last day. "Bratwurst" followed us around as we worked, and kept us entertained.

In the late afternoons and evenings, we ventured out onto the streets of Joplin to explore, take pictures, talk to the locals, and listen to their stories. This was by far, the most touching part of our trip. While we were out one evening going through a neighborhood, we ran across a couple that had driven in and parked next to us. We shared stories with them and found out they used to live in the home across the street for 30 years (it was no longer there). All they had left were the memories. They were obviously very disturbed by this. They told us that a young mother and her son had lost their life a hundred yards down the street.

They went on and told us how the community had come together in the days after the tornado, and how people had helped each other. Sharing food, water, and helping out in any way possible. The woman was a retired nurse. Right after the tornado, a call for medically trained people went out. She worked several days in a temporary triage area that had been set up for the victims. They were very grateful for all the volunteers that had helped out. They thanked us for coming in and helping out too.

There will be more opportunities to help in Joplin!! Church of the Shepherd will be sending groups for weekend trip and full week trips in the next few months.

Do you want to help?

Another Day and Twenty Dollars

We are working in a hayfield about a mile east of town today. It was at the end of the tornados path, where a lot of debris fell down in the fields. We found a lot of fiberglass insulation and shingles throughout the pasture. (Good work for the cows...) We also found several personal items mixed in to make it interesting. Pictures, game pieces, a twenty dollar bill, old checks.

We drove 3 miles through the path of the tornado on the way out of town. There were excavators, bulldozers,and dump trucks everywhere.

In much of the areas, they were pretty much pulling down any structure that was still left standing. Unbelievable the amount of devastation.

An elderly lady whose home at ground zero, 2 blocks east of the high school showed up at church asking if anyone could go with her to her house because looters have previously been there before.

She is currently living with her son, has gone furniture shopping with her daughter, because she has already bought a house in Webb City.

It backs up to a graveyard, and she can't wait to live with her quiet neighbors. Ha! Ha!

This is the bathtub where she stayed during the tornado.

Her house is extensively damaged.

It's Sizzling HOT!

Americorps has asked us to help out with debris removal with 3 local sites. Our group got started this morning on a home about 8 blocks from the church. The home owner needed help clearing storm debris from his yard. A fallen tree, branches, roofing shingles, and insulation covered the yard.


The whole area was busy with activity all day. A neighboring home had a roofing crew working in the heat to replace their damaged roof. A home across the street was being bulldozed because it was no longer habitable. Another neighbor had a backhoe in their yard repairing the foundation of their home. It seems as if everyone in the area was affected.

The area of the tornados destruction was very well defined. A little more than a block away from where we were working, the homes were completely demolished by the tornado or severely damaged and had to be removed. By lunch time the heat had made working nearly impossible. Heat index >100F. We headed back later in the afternoon to complete the work on the first home. The homeowner and his wife expressed deep gratitude for our team efforts.

Ready for a new assignment tomorrow!

Awaiting Orders

On Sunday, nine members left for Joplin to spend one week doing what they can.

This team was kept on their toes for the entire planning time, while the location of the mission trip changed from Rio Bravo to Alabama to Joplin to Mound City and back to Joplin.

From the Team....

We arrived last night at our home base, Beyers Avenue United Methodist Church in Joplin. It's on the fringe of the damaged area. Several nearby homes in the neighborhood have damaged roofs. It's about 1/4 mile from the area that's really been decimated. Several members of the congregation welcomed us last night when we arrived. We actually attended a short church service that they have every week in their community hall.

Overall, It has really nice accommodations for mission groups. There is another group of 8 coming in tomorrow from Lee Summit staying Tues- Friday. They are also expecting a larger group of 55 coming from Plano, TX on Friday. Right now it's 8am and we are waiting on our Amercorps contact to tell us where we will be working this week. More tonight...