I recently went down to Mayfield, Kentucky for two days to volunteer, hoping to help the tornado destroyed city and its residents anyway I could. Having a forestry background, I packed my chainsaw and the necessary personal protective gear into the trunk of my car. I realized I would probably be required to do something other than running a chainsaw, but I wanted to be prepared to offer the only skill I had become really good at, just in case it was needed. Driving into Mayfield at seven o’clock in the morning I missed the turn that would take me to the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters, which is the organization I signed up to volunteer with. By missing the turn, I ended up driving straight into downtown. I cried. That overwhelming feeling of sorrow stayed with me for much of the morning, and I wondered what I could do to help the victims of this storm to make it through, or how I could help them cling to God after unimaginable loss and sorrow. The answer was, more or less, nothing. Not because there was nothing to be done, it was because of the word “I.”
Mayfield First United Methodist Church in Mayfield, KY 
Mercy Health Hospital in Mayfield, KY
What can be worse than loss of life and possessions?
I think my greatest source of sorrow when disaster strikes a town, or a family, or an individual, is considering how the victims of the tragedy will react towards God. You have to admit that if a person believes in God or not, almost everyone who experiences something like this will talk to God in one way or another; either to seek Him for His comfort, or to curse Him for His apathy. Disaster and pain have a tendency to make temporal believers out of all of us. Do you know why that is? It is because the truth is written on all of our hearts, but our selfish bodies, along with the distractions of life, are really good at ignoring it. Then we realize we have no control and no guarantees, and through our fear we see Him clearly. Some of us through the lens of hope, others through a filter of anger, hate, and shame. The shame comes from knowing we have denied Him all this time, denied what we knew to be true, but now we feel it is too late, and that we can’t give in now, forced into submission by tragedy and sorrow. No, we will wait for a time when we can consider it, Him, on our own terms.
Yes, my greatest sorrow in times and places like these is that those who do not know God will have gathered more ammunition to use against God, to reject His existence. While others who do believe in Him will become angry and bitter, and eventually turning their backs on Him, leaving their faith behind. Does it take a strong Christian to turn to God in praise and thanksgiving in times of loss? I don’t think so and I hope not. Who are we to say how the Holy Spirit can move in someone’s heart in any given situation? While those who are stronger in faith will likely turn to God, some will not. Likewise, some who have been far away may find themselves looking towards Him for the healing and the hope that is only found in Him, some for the first time.
Why go?
You may be asking, as I did when I arrived, if I knew there was nothing I could do to make any difference in Mayfield, then why did I go? First and foremost, the Holy Spirit guided me to. The longing I had to be there alongside suffering brothers and sisters was irresistible and only explainable through the continual sensitizing of my heart by the Holy Spirit. Those are His tears that come so easily anymore, from the eyes of a man who refused to cry for anything, not to mention the fate of distant strangers. Then everything from the radio announcement, registration with Samaritan’s Purse, having the time to go, getting a negative Covid test, to finding the last hotel room in town after the first night, was all guided and gifted by God. That was the motivation, but what of the reason? That would be revealed while I was there.
Going into a disaster area by yourself, to work with a humble heart that is full of love, will provide little more than free labor and accomplish little more than removing one grain of sand from a hurting community’s sand box. Driving into town with a food truck and serving free meals to one hundred people a day is a great thing to do and demonstrates beautifully the ability of the human heart to love. It takes the stress and worry from immediate needs, but the endurance of that hope only lasts until the time of the next meal. If I were to walk into town and start knocking on doors and asking if I could pray for the people inside, or if I stood on the street corner and prayed over the community night and day, angles in heaven would rejoice but the people would not be physically served. (See James 2:14-17).
When I joined my group at Samaritan’s Purse, I put on that orange t-shirt and joined 15 to 20 other people. As the day passed, I watched crew members pray for homeowners, one even wept as she revealed she had lost a family member on 7th St. I saw the Salvation Army drive in and give meals to our crew and to hungry people. I saw chaplains from the Billy Graham Association talk to, pray with, and give Bible’s to the homeowner’s we served. I was informed that one homeowner we served accepted Jesus Christ into his life. The night of the storm his girlfriend called him and asked him to come home from his job at the Mayfield Candle Factory, which he did, right before 9 people died there. Something was stirring in his heart and eight days later he accepted Jesus when a couple of chaplains talked to him as we cleared his backyard of a fallen tree.
Giving the Bible to a Homeowner 
Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Response Vehicle (DRV)
As I worked, dragging limbs and cutting with a chainsaw, I looked at all these wonderful things happening around me, and I realized that nothing would be different if I was not there. The other 15 people would get the brush cut and moved, the food would have been served, Bible’s delivered, prayers given, and salvation witnessed. And this is where I learned what my purpose was in Mayfield, Kentucky. It is a purpose that we all can fill, one that we all must aspire too. It was to simply strengthen the body of Jesus Christ. What a beautiful revelation that was. (See 1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
You see, when we all put those orange safety shirts on, the one’s that say, “Serving in Jesus’ Name,” we are visibly and actively showing people that faith is real and that God is working on their behalf through His body, the church. That’s right, the church, for while not one of us worship in the same building, together we are the church. This is where you see a difference. It is visible and it is in action. It is bold in its faith and unashamed of Jesus Christ. It serves the people under only one banner, the banner of the Holy God. It is serving in missions in your back yard.
The Hope of God
My prayer for the people in Mayfield, Edwardsville, Bowling Green, and the other communities effected by this disaster, and disasters past, is that no one, not even one, will fall away. My prayer is that the devil loses completely and that no one is lost due to these disasters, rather many more are saved and find their way to the hope and the comfort that is found in God the Father. My wife said it beautifully when she wrote about my trip. She said, “Mayfield, a place where people lost everything, and once again nature showed us how vulnerable life is. We give thanks for God’s faithfulness in the midst of chaos, pain, and death. If you feel lost and crumbled, THERE IS HOPE!”
Like me she is longing for the lost and crumbled to find their hope in God. She is pointing out that God’s faithfulness is being demonstrated by His body, His army of believers that descended onto Mayfield in the wake of the storm to stand with, pray for, and help their brothers and sisters in any way they could. Because all of us, no matter what you call yourself, are brothers and sisters. We all come from the same place, we all struggle the same struggles, and we all possess hearts that continually resist darkness, selfishness, and sin. We are all the same in the eyes of God, not one is better than the other. Remember that when you are tempted to judge the faults of another. Remember that God’s love for that person is just as strong as it is for you. And there lies the beauty of faith in Jesus Christ. He came for and He died for all of us! Your past, your social status, your religious background, your bank account, are all inconsequential. He will accept you. He will! I am 100% confident of that. And He will comfort you in your pain. He can touch your heart and give you a peace that you can’t understand. He may comfort the hurting through those who are encouraging. He provides for those in need via those who have plenty.
I have a personal testimony regarding this, and I’ve written about it here and there. When our son was seriously injured we turned to God and praised Him in the darkness. Our hearts cried out, but we chose to praise Him in our pain. He gave us peace in our hearts during those early and uncertain moments. He physically prepared our son’s body for surgery. He provided a skillful surgeon to operate on my son. He came through in a mighty, powerful, and miraculous way. Of course, we give thanks and praise to those wonderful doctors at Children’s Hospital, but not the glory. All the glory, all of it, goes to God!
Brothers and sisters, I encourage you to reach out if you are hurting, confused, or lost. Contact me or go to a pastor of a Bible teaching, God fearing church. In parting I leave you with the verse from 1 Kings 19 below. The winds may have destroyed Mayfield and taken the lives of our loved ones. The fire may destroy our forests and towns in the west. Earthquakes can strike us with unimaginable fear. But when the storm passes, we will find God in the stillness of our hearts. He is there to keep you and guide you as we rebuild, say goodbye, and lament. He is with you.
With love,
Chris
1 Kings 19:11-13
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
James 2:14-17
14 Suppose a person claims to have faith but doesn’t act on their faith. My brothers and sisters, can this kind of faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister has no clothes or food. 16 Suppose one of you says to them, “Go. I hope everything turns out fine for you. Keep warm. Eat well.” And suppose you do nothing about what they really need. Then what good have you done? 17 It is the same with faith. If it doesn’t cause us to do something, it’s dead.
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
12 There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. 13 We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts.
15 Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 16 And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? 18 God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. 19 If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? 20 As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.
21 The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without. 23 The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honor. The private parts aren’t shown. But they are treated with special care. 24 The parts that can be shown don’t need special care. But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honor to the parts that didn’t have any. 25 In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy.
27 You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it.
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