To: [log in to unmask]
Dear Christian friends,
"Save" is the ironic hand-painted sign someone has propped against the
concrete bank vault still standing in the debris of Spencer, South Dakota.
For, as I stood in the middle of the 42 blocks of total devastation of what
was once Spencer, there was nothing I could immediately identify that could
be salvaged or saved.
Last Saturday Spencer was just another Midwestern community. About 48
blocks of tree-lined streets, houses and churches, a bank and grain
elevator. Now, one week later, of those 188 houses, 179 were destroyed.
No trees are standing anymore, and only a few houses on the edge of the
community survive.
I spend yesterday, June 5, with Jim Barclay (President of Lutheran Social
Services of South Dakota) in Spencer, SD. We brought a load of shovels,
brooms, and rakes for work crews to use in the clean-up operations. The
devastation in Spencer is some of the worst I have ever seen. In a
42-block area not one building stands totally intact. Emergency operations
are in full swing, as crews load up rubble into trucks, and as dazed people
take last looks at what once was their house.
An elderly couple told us how they dived into their basement just seconds
after phoning their son and yelling one word, "Tornado." When the roar of
the winds stopped, they looked up at the sky. Their son's life was
probably saved as a result of their quick call. A pastor looked at what
was left of his church building...only a foundation and floor...and wonders
what the future will be for this town and his congregation. A twisted
water tower lies on the ground; ruined fire trucks stand in the open, the
fire house blown away; a woman looks dazed as she describes looking through
debris for family mementos; a retired pastor hopes to find the pectoral
cross his parents gave him at his ordination; a widow of 14 years looks for
her wedding ring.
You and I are here in Spencer, helping to "save" through the ministries of
Lutheran Disaster Response. LDR is here, with a response managed by
LSS-South Dakota. We are here with volunteers helping in clean-up efforts.
Counselors are talking with the people of the community and the surrounding
farms. Volunteers are helping to "pick the fields" clear of debris, so
farming can continue. Food is being distributed through a local warehouse
program being used by many denominations where urgently-needed items can be
obtained by the people.
You can participate in this response, and help the efforts to "save" -- to
save lives and strengthen faith, to restore families and bring the help and
hope of the Gospel. Keep in your prayers these people who have lost their
homes, their school, their churches, in one quick and deadly tornado.
TO VOLUNTEER: Call Rose Kormann, 1-800-568-2401.
TO CONTRIBUTE; ElCA Domestic Disaster Response
PO Box 71764
Chicago, IL 60694-1764
In Christ,
Gil Furst
GILBERT B. FURST (written on Sat, Jun 6, 1998, at 8:55 am)
Associate Director, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response
Internet address: [log in to unmask]
For more information, click on our web site: www.elca.org/dcs/disaster
