How to Love Your Neighbor During a Natural Disaster - Amy Lively
An unprecedented swarm of deadly nighttime tornadoes tore through several states from Friday, December 10 into Saturday, December 11 leaving a long trail of death and destruction. Search-and-rescue efforts continue; more than 100 are feared dead.
This devastating news has become daily life for thousands of families from Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and Kentucky. According to Samaritan’s Purse, “states across the heartland of the country were battered by at least 50 tornadoes. The worst damage and highest death toll occurred across western Kentucky.”
Please pray for emergency responders and ongoing search efforts; for the many people affected by these storms as they grieve and recover; for volunteers and community leaders as they assess the situation and begin to serve the hurting.
This area has a special connection to those of you who read “How to Love Your Neighbor Without Being Weird.” This book is dedicated to Bob, “who represents all of my neighbors.” Bob is a dear friend who lives in our former neighborhood in Ohio. Bob owns a company that makes lids for candles, and one of his longtime customers was the candle factory that was demolished in Mayfield, Kentucky. Bob had visited the factory many times and had made many friends there, as Bob does everywhere he goes.
Samaritan’s Purse
Bob is also an organizer for Samaritan’s Purse who has planned several trips around the country as disasters strike. My husband and father went with Bob to Texas to help after Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Samaritan’s Purse mobilizes and equips thousands of volunteers to provide emergency aid to U.S. victims of wildfires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. In the aftermath of major storms, they often stay behind to rebuild houses for people with nowhere else to turn for help.
And did I mention that Bob is in his 80’s? For more information on how you can volunteer with people like Bob or contribute, please visit www.samaritanspurse.org.
