A Year Later, Joplin Church Rebuilds, Reaches Out to Tornado Victims

Religion Today | Published: May 21, 2012

A Year Later, Joplin Church Rebuilds, Reaches Out to Tornado Victims

A year after a deadly EF-5 tornado struck Joplin, Mo., a church that was destroyed plans to reach out and minister to victims of recent tornadoes in Indiana, the Christian Post reports. The Rev. Aaron Brown of St. Paul's United Methodist Church announced Sunday that the church plans to not only lay the foundation of its new building, but also send money and volunteers to help victims of March tornadoes in southern Indiana that caused widespread destruction and wiped at least one town of about 1,900 people completely off the map. Brown, whose church's mission is to lead people to an active faith in Jesus Christ, said, "God will use what we've been through to show the world who He is." On May 22, 2011, about one-fourth of Joplin was destroyed by the half-mile-wide, 13-mile-long tornado; 161 people were killed, nearly 7,000 houses were leveled and more than 850 others were damaged. The storm also destroyed or damaged 27 churches. Pastor John Myers of the Joplin Full Gospel Church, which too was destroyed, says that though the church now has a new building, he will always live with the fact that he could do nothing to help the members of his congregation who died. "You're glad to see a new building, you're glad to see things happening, and the people are happy," he said. "But still yet, in the back of your mind, you still remember it. It is still there yet, and it will be."



A Year Later, Joplin Church Rebuilds, Reaches Out to Tornado Victims