Group Times

Everyday we would go out and work with other people, but when our group was alone we were able to focus on each other. Three of us were new and these moments were great opportunities to feel more at home with CSF. Devotions, being more substantial interactions, automatically made us newbs understand everyone else and to let the rest of the group get to know what we are like.

We also cooked together. Doing simple chores would often bring opportunities of silliness, which always makes a group feel more comfortable around each other. The week was long and stressful at points. So for us to kick back, laugh, and do simple activities was very necessary for everyone’s well being.

The first night we were away we stayed at a church that Katy’s Aunt attends. We had dinner, supplied by her Aunt and Uncle, and devotions, then we went in to the gym and goofed off. It was fun to be goofy but also really important since it is such a great way of feeling comfortable around each other; especially since we had the whole week ahead of us.

[Written by Kerry Kunze]

St. Paul United Methodist Church

Hello brothers and sisters in Christ.  It’s Lance Harlan writing to you all the way from Morgantown, WV.  This year I was blessed enough to be a part of a very amazing CSF mission trip to Joplin, MO where we encountered many really amazing people and followers of Christ who live it out every day. 

During our second day in Joplin, half of our group was dry walling a house (and each other) and the other half of us went to a site to sort clothes for the Salvation Army.  During that day we met several really awesome people, but there was one person we were really blessed to connect with during our time folding and sorting clothes.  Carol Brockman was her name.  She is a resident of Joplin and a member of St. Paul United Methodist Church.  As we spent some time throughout the day hearing her story about the tornado and how she lost some close friends in the disaster, she began to ask us about what led us to Joplin. 

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Eric's House

On day two Jared, Marissa, Kerry, Matt, and I went to Dan’s house. He is a veteran that lost his house in the tornado. Before taking care of his own possessions, he made sure to check on all of his neighbors and helped them to remove their debris. His house did not seem far from being done. We learned how to drywall and mud. Sadly, we did not really get the chance to speak to Dan since he was outside running around most of the day.

Day three I was with the same crew and we were assigned to Eric’s house. We had the address and kept driving around the block wondering if we were given the wrong address. So we called Eric and asked which house was his. We had driven by it a few times and did not think it was a project since the front doors had signs saying “Keep Out” and “No Trespassing.” The house was in really bad shape. You could tell that there had not been a lot of work done to it since the tornado.

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Joplin Damage

Imagine a residential neighborhood, just your average everyday neighborhood; houses about 30 feet apart, nice streets, shrubbery, 3rd and 4th generation families living there…this was Joplin, MO before May 22, 2011.

Having been on several mission trips these past few years with CSF, you would think, or at least I did, that I wouldn’t be too greatly shocked by the extent of the damage in Joplin.  But this was on a whole other scale.  In New Orleans, you could see the flood damage:  water/mud lines on walls, buildings boarded up and condemned, even the spray painted markings were there from search parties.  The difference was, the buildings were still there!  The area of Joplin that was hit by the EF-5 tornado was very much the same as described, but now that area is COMPLETELY barren.  The tornado carved out a 1 by 6 mile, yes MILE, block of the town, in an area much described like that above.  Nothing was left standing, not even a tree.  Anything that is now standing in the core damage zone is of new construction.  This includes power poles, houses, and there are still no trees. 

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