Memorial crosses at Plaza Towers Elementary School for seven children who died there.
Evidence of the devastation of the tornadoes force.
During the week of June 9-15, four Iowa Disaster Relief (DR) Chaplains joined with DR Chaplains from Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky and several other states to bring God’s message of hope to Moore, Oklahoma and surrounding communities following the devastating tornadoes that hit the area. Those from Iowa included Pam Jones from Southern Hills in Sioux City, Mike Roberts from Shiloh Baptist in Cedar Falls, John Shaull from New Bridge in Winterset and Frank McCrary from Calvary Baptist in Glenwood. All four of our Iowa chaplains partnered with other chaplains sharing hope and the love of Christ with many who had little or nothing left of their material possessions. The lead chaplain for Oklahoma who oversaw the chaplains during the week was Larry Moore. Larry’s love for Christ and joyful spirit encouraged all of the chaplains who heard one heartbreaking story after another each day. There were memories shared about the children who died at the Plaza Towers Elementary School and of staff members and children who survived. For Glen and his wife, it brought back memories of a son who died years earlier in a motorcycle crash. Believers who spoke to our chaplains expressed their hope in Christ and the reality that everything we hold dear in Christ lasts forever but “stuff” can be gone in an instant. Members of the Iowa team gave out DR quilts, made by Dianna Sparks and others at New Bridge Church in Winterset, to people who had lost everything. They also presented teddy bears to children and adults, listened to people’s stories of the tornadoes’ terror, shared prayers, tracts and words of hope from God’s word. Perhaps the words written in spray paint on a blue tarp along the side of a partially destroyed home sums up the work of our chaplains the best: “Hope still lives here.”
