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Dear Christian friends,
"It's not magic that's putting our town back together," John Pangburn,
mayor of Mulhall, Oklahoma, said to me. "It's love."
I have just returned from the rural Oklahoma area, struck last May by a
massive tornado. On the ground for hours and occasionally up to a mile
wide, its 310+ mile per hour winds killed at least 36 people, left over a
thousand homes in ruins, and laid waste to entire communities. One
community was Mulhall. There wasn't much left the first time I visited
Mulhall. Houses were either in heaps of rubble or simply blown away. But
now, because of the presence of Lutheran Disaster Response, working in
coordination with other faith groups, counseling is provided, repairs and
rebuilding are being done, and Mulhall is being reborn.
There is a death and resurrection motif to disaster response ministries.
As we approach Thanksgiving Day this week, the scene of new life after the
destruction of disasters is vivid in my mind. Thinking of the thousands of
people affected this year by wind and floods, hurricanes and tornadoes, as
well as human-caused tragedies, I also reflect on the new life God offers
through the presence and labors of others. For as I witnessed lives and
towns torn apart this year from time to time and place to place - I have
also seen God's presence, even in the troubled days.
It's not magic that brings new life after the destruction of disasters,
it's love - God's love.
For what are you thankful this Thanksgiving?
I am thankful for the strength, faith and courage of thousands who have
suffered so much this year, for individuals and families in Arkansas and
Kansas, Oklahoma and California, North Carolina and New Jersey, the Dakotas
and Colorado, Pennsylvania and Ohio, Iowa and Nevada.
I am thankful for those who pour out their own love, prayers, financial
support, compassion, and caring.
I am thankful for pastors and others who proclaim the Gospel.
I am thankful for hundreds of volunteers who travel to unknown places to
rebuild houses and lives.
I am thankful for staff and colleagues in the church, for our "Lutheran
Coalition" partners, and for other faith groups who offer help and hope to
others.
And with the whole church I am thankful for the grace of God that upholds
and sustains us all.
Yours in Christ,
Gil Furst
GILBERT B. FURST (written on Mon, Nov 22, 1999, at 2:43 pm)
Director, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response (Division for Church in Society),
Lutheran Disaster Response (a cooperative ministry of the ELCA and LCMS)
8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago 60631 PHONE: 773-380-2822 FAX: 773-380-2493
Visit our website: www.elca.org/dcs/disaster
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