1 Year Ago

Janelle and I woke up on this date last year and drove down to the new Martin's and parked the car. We walked US 6 to the Taco Bell/KFC. The week that was to follow was undoubtedly one of the craziest of my life.

All is well in Nappanee

Taco Bell/KFC has reopened.
For those who don't remember, it was destroyed in the October Tornado.

And if you every wondered what brings out the crowds in a small town... no need to wonder any more!

I Hope I Honored You.

We haven't been together since I lost you that fateful night, October 18. I'm waiting for your return some time next year. As I've considered visiting one of your brothers or sisters. It's just that I don't want to offend you.
But yesterday, as I was driving in South Bend, I realized a visit to your brother would not offend you. Quite the contrary. I would be honoring you.

I took that T1 with a Wild Cherry Pepsi in remembrance of you, Nappanee Taco Bell. I ate it, and I loved it, all the while remembering the times we've spent together, and the times we will soon be spending together again.

I did it because I love you.
I did it because I missed you.
I did it because I was hungry.
I hope you understand.

A Great Afternoon

My buddy Caleb Bislow was in town for the day. We were able to spend the afternoon togther. First, we had lunch with Dave Engbrecht. It was a great time to sit and share visions, burdens, and dreams for the nations.

Dave and Caleb have communicated often in email, but it was great to have the time to sit down together and share.

Then, I took Caleb around to see the the effects of the tornado. Much work has been done, much work is to be done.

After that, the Bizman was willing to sit down with Dustin Eby and Mike Griggs. Dustin and Mike are two Senior Guys that are spending their afternoons at the church in a student internship. They are both sensing a call into ministry. They are also working on a second Maasai Night where they raise funds and awareness for Caleb and what he's doing in The Maasai Project.

It was so enjoyable to watch as these guys soaked in his every word. Caleb, the superhero evangelist and missionary, become a very normal guy that serves an extraordinary guy.

He offered them some great insights and inspired them.

Tornado Relief Update

I'm a little slow getting this one up.

Chris Knight has been working closely with Hope Crisis Rescue Network (hcrn).

Last Thursday, he posted some unbelievable statistics concerning the relief efforts.
Check them out here.

Tornado Pics

Just ran across some more pics of the tornado destruction. You can check them out here.

Some Tornadic Updates

• Yesterday, Janelle and I drove through some of the "hit" areas. Although much cleanup and work has taken place, the devastation is still very evident.
• We had a "Chick Nite" planned for this Saturday... a bi-annual SH Gals hangout event. This chick nite has been changed to a "chick afternoon". The gals will be coming in to compile "hygeine packs" to take out to the Franklin/ Sample Street area and hand out. They will also take some time to care/ listen/ help in whatever way they can.
• HCRN is set up over in our YMC and coordinating significant relief efforts. If you'd like to volunteer to help, you can do so by going tot he HCRN website here.
  
• At 10 am today, 3 area ministries came in to the church to divy up the remaining donations that have come in for tornado victims. At this point, Open Door, FCDC, and Church of God Food Pantry are doing everything possible to get those items donated to those who've suffered loss through the tornado.

I continue to be blown away by the overwhelming outpouring of generosity and compassion by this and surrounding communities!!

Stat Bump

Tornado hit on the night of Oct. 18. Posted pics at 9:00 am October 19. A few visitors have dropped by since...

The past 24 hours

I was hugging the porcelain 24 hours ago.
Was it exhaustion, bad food, or a bug?

Considering the fever at this point, I'm thinking it's the third.
We decided I better stay home today. The last thing tornado victims need at this point is to be puking.

Talk about frustrating... today really marked a change in possibilities to step into action.

What have I been learning over the past three days?

I have learned a ridiculous amount from observation and experience over these past three days.
There's been leadership lessons, lessons on human nature, lessons on crisis care, and plenty of other topics.

If I could sum up a few of the thoughts I've had in this...

• Watching as people come and drop off donated items, you can get a pretty clear view into their heart.
• Even when somebody has lost everything, the first and most important thing you can offer them is a smile and a listening ear.
• It is possible to have your desire to help overshadow and get in the way of those who need to be helped.
• Patience is absolutely key in assisting with relief efforts.
• Disaster relief is an unbelievably fluid venture.
  
• Sometimes your best leadership move is to catch that you're in over your head, and turn to those who can help you.
• My wife is made for disaster and crisis work. She's been unbelievable.
• My Senior Pastor is an amazing man of God.
  

Over the past 48...

Some things I've witnessed over the past 48 hours:

The Heartbreak - Sitting at the church as family after family has come in to grab a hot meal, get a shower, pick up some food and supplies, or get this, offer their help to others. Hearing their stories. "We lost everything has" has been uttered a few too many times in our hallways over the past 48 hours.

The Disgusting - A guy stopped in to the church today and was frustrated that he and his buddy had traveled from "far away" and couldn't get out with their chainsaws to "help out." He was very upset that he had been warned that he would be ticketed or arrested if he didn't leave.
Sympathetic to his frustration, Janelle ran over to get someone info from the Red Cross on how he could go about volunteering in an acceptable manner. While Janelle was gone, this guy continued to explain that "far away" meant he had traveled all the way from Warsaw. He then said, "I've got $400 dollars in new equipment out there I was thinking to use. I mean, I wouldn't even charge these people to cut down their trees as long as they let me take the wood, or I'd charge them much less that most companies."
This is just one example of some of the disgusting situations I've encountered over the past 48 hours.

The Heroes - Frank and Carole are from Florida. They've spent time in Haiti as missionaries. Since then, they've been traveling and living out of their RV. They had stopped at Newmar to get some repair work done. When the tornado hit, they decided to stick around. Carole has recently had significant surgery that makes it difficult to move and impossible to lift anything. Today, they were at the church for 6 hours helping collect and distribute donations. They are embody the many amazing servants I have encountered over the past 48 hours.

From our Senior Pastor

This is on the main page of our church website:

AN OPEN LETTER FROM PASTOR DAVE:

Thanks so much for your concerns as we press forward to care for those displaced by the Nappanee Tornado. So many groups, organizations and people have showered compassion in a variety of ways. Time like this can be the finest hour for the Body of Christ!

NMC staff and volunteers have gone way beyond the call of duty to assist in many ways. A number of groups and organizations (including the Red Cross and the Salvation Army) have used NMC as their Operations Center.

The clean-up initiative is a fluid situation. It changes on an hourly basis. Here is the latest information---

1. At this point, there is not a need for perisable or non-perishable items. Contrary to what you might hear on the media, this is the official statement from the major players involved. We are accepting cash donations through NMC, and 100% will be used for relief and restoration.
   
   
2. NMC has set up an account, and we will invest these funds to assit in the area of greatest need.
   
   
3. The City of Nappanee is planning the first official opportunity for volunteers to be a part of the clean up tomorrow, Sunday, at 10 AM. The event will be staged from the Northwood High School parking lot. Buses will take people to the clean-up sites. Water will be provided, and you are asked to bring a sack lunch. If you plan to be a part of this event, you are encouraged to attend the 8 AM service in your work clothes. PLEASE DO NOT BRING ANY EQUIPMENT. WEAR GLOVES AND HARD-SOLED SHOES. PLAN TO BE GONE UNTIL 3 PM. Children are discouraged from being a part of the clean-up effort. If you attend the 8 AM service with your children, and you plan to go clean up at 10 AM, please make arrangements for your children. Do not leave them at NMC.
   
   
4. We will have our regular Sunday AM services tomorrow, Sunday, at NMC. There will be no services and no activities here Sunday PM. That includes cancellation of the Children's Christmas Musical rehearsal, the effect and any other groups that normally meet on Sunday PMs.
   
   
5. Monday at 8 AM, we will begin the next phase of the volunteer work. Hope Crisis Response Network (HCRN) will be directing this phase of the recontruction which focuses on volunteer work. Registration to help takes place in the YMC on our campus. You can also register by going to www.hcrn.info and click on the volunteer tab. Clean up will be ongoing, and when many leave, we will still be here.

Video of the damage

200-250 damaged buildings.
As many as 100 will be taken down.
Rodney, our Video guru here at the church shot this footage this morning...

A Different kind of Sunday

Expect a news release this evening inviting the community to gather Sunday, 10:00 am at NorthWood High School to go out and work on cleaning the town.
Participants need to bring work gloves and hard soled shoes.
Those under age 13 need to be accompanied by an adult.

At NMC we are encouraging our church to participate by coming to our 8:00 am service in their work clothes before heading over to the school.
Many of our Small Churches (care and community groups that meet at 9:30) will be heading over to the school instead of meeting together.

What Can I do?

"What can we do to help?"
"Let me know if you need people."
"Where do I go if I want help out?"

We've been getting floods of questions like this.

Here's some answers...

Volunteer - ON MONDAY OR LATER You can sign up to volunteer at the YMC (the building in the Southwest Corner of the Church parking lot) OR you can click here and fill out a form to volunteer.
Most volunteer efforts will not begin till the end of the weekend and the beginning of next week.

Equipment - If you have a cherry picker, gator, bobcat, chainsaw, etc. that you want to make available, you can go through the same process as you would volunteering your time (read above)

Donations - People can bring supplies to the Church. Bring them to Entrance G. Valuable donations would include...
Canned food
water
baby supplies (diapers, bottles, etc.)
cleaning products
trash bags, cups and paper products...
no blankets or clothes.

Money - We have set up an account that can go directly to the relief efforts. You can send a check to Nappanee Missionary Church marked "Tornado Relief". Send it to...
PO Box 110
Nappanee, IN 46550
All financial gifts are tax deductible.

Relief work at the church

This has been rough. It will continue to be rough. It is awesome to see people respond compassionately.
The Red Cross has set up it's relief station here at the church. It's been pretty amazing to witness the immediate and significant response.
Our Main office ladies have been fielding calls from people seeking to volunteer, offer their equipment, and donations. The phones are ringing off the hook!
Our Aux gym is set up with cots and food for those with no place to sleep.
Outside is a tent containing stray pets that have been picked up.
In our YMC, people are coming in to sign up to volunteer.

It's a pretty awesome sight...

More Pics

These are taken at the south end of Nappanee, just off SR 19N, by the old South Side Elemtary School.


You'll see the Assembly of God Church pretty much thrashed. While Terry, Chris, Jason, and I were out there, we ran into the Senior Pastor. We took a moment to pray with him and ask how we could help.
His answer, "Do you have any idea where we can meet this Sunday?"
Let that one sink in...

Tornado Touch Down in Nappanee

Last night, Janelle and I were mad that NBC wouldn't cut away from their storm coverage so we could watch the Office.
This morning, I'm thinking there's some more important stuff than The Office.
There are several people in cots in the gym next to my office. They don't have homes any more.
Janelle and I drove out to Martin's Supermarket and walked along US 6 East of CR 7.
No more Dairy Queen. No more Taco Bell. Fairmont got nailed. The BP Station is completely gone.

Here's some pics:



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