Storm Victims in Alabama

[Elizabeth]

I am just now posting due to not having power.. We just got power back on 2 minutes before 9 in the morning yesterday!!
It feels soo good to be able to have power..
Anyways..
Please keep the storm victims in alabama in your prayers!!! They really need your prayers... The death tole is up to 250 at the last time that I heard.. And thats just in Alabama!!
Christian Aid Ministries got here on friday and set up bases in Cullman, Madison, and Tuscaloosa.. And they will continue to be here until there is no need for them anymore.. There are alot of people that lost either their life or a loved one.. Please pray for the ones that are hurting.. I was going to go and volunteer to help clean up the areas that were devestated by the tornados.. But I had to work.. But hopefully I will be able to by the end of the week..
Hope each of you have a very blessed day!!
Blessings,
Elizabeth

[art]

I spent the day today working as part of a Christian Aid Ministries team in Tuscaloosa. I thought I understood the situation from the pics I had seen on the internet. It is mind boggling when you stand in the midst of it and try to grasp the scope of it. When we first pulled in the neighborhood where we were working today I was awed by the damage. The team coordinator told me what I was seeing was the lucky ones because most of the houses in this neighborhood could be repaired. At lunch time we had to go pick up more equipment and we rode through a neighborhood a couple of blocks over that looked like a war zone. The homes definitely could not be repaired. Most were rubble on a foundation. The coordinator said this still wasn't the worst of it. At quitting time he took me over another couple of blocks and instead of looking like a war zone it looked like a land fill. The only large piece of rubble I saw there was a large piece of metal roof wrapped around the trunk of a pine tree 30 feet off the ground. I couldn't even distinguish where the houses had been exactly. Debris blasted to tiny pieces was everywhere.

I just got home. I am so thankful for how blessed I am and for the blessing I received from my day in Tuscaloosa. Baptists, Mennonites, Church of Christ, all kinds of groups were there helping the victims and each other without any thought for our differences. So many people were being so kind to each other and giving of themselves and their resources. It was amazing. Also, one more praise report; in the midst of the "war zone neighborhood" was a church. The house next to it was levelled. The trees in front of and behind the church were snapped off. Devastation surrounded this building. The church had a small portion of metal roofing pulled off with the substrate being completely intact and some broken glass. The building was not significantly damaged and is being used as an aid station. That has to be God's devine intervention.

As Elizabeth said, please continue praying. So many people are homeless now. Thank you and God bless.