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To: [log in to unmask] We are in Royal Oaks, on the outskirts of Little Rock, Arkansas, and standing in the ruins. Five days ago the trees were beginning to flower, children were playing, and life seemed normal. Today bits of clothing and pieces of homes hang from the trees that are left. Piles of rubble are all that remain of most homes, and in some places even those have been blown away. Huge oak trees have been pulled out by their roots. We heard a young man tell how the shop where he worked literally disintegrated around him as he hid behind a large box. He emerged to find his own home gone, too. Not everyone emerged from this catastrophe. This has been a week of funerals for dozens who did not survive, a time of numbness and of mourning, and now of determination to come back. That was the spirit at a community meeting in nearby Reformation Lutheran Church. Lutherans have already responded here in Arkansas, delivering emergency food, hundreds of sandwiches, and volunteering to clean up debris. Today a van load of people from Christ the King, Memphis, pulled up to the emergency center here to spend a day amidst the mud and debris. Pastor Norman Hein, of LSS of the South, is the Church World Service representative here. Lutheran Disaster Response will respond in three ways. (l) We will be providing emergency grants to our own Lutheran families who lost their homes. (2) We will be an active and supportive partner in the Arkansas Interfaith response, which is already reaching out to the many areas devastated by these tragic tornados. (3) We will focus Lutheran resources here in this devastated Oak Ridge neighborhood, helping with cleanup, emergency supplies,counseling, pastoral care, and financial assistance to the most vulnerable. Lutheran Social Services of Kansas/Oklahoma is managing this response for LDR. Tomorrow, we will be here in Arkansas, and on Saturday I will be in Ohio. Town after town has felt the terrible affects of the flood crest as it moved down the Ohio and its tributaries. Many homes are still under water and some areas as of today are still isolated. This region is being challenged by one of the worst flood experiences of this century. The Synod has already begun an emergency response there as the waters recede. Saturday afternoon we will be meeting in Cincinnati with representatives of the synod, the LCMS District, AAL and LB, and LSS of the Miami Valley. The social ministry organization will help in managing this response for LDR. Within a few days there will be a coordinator on site in Arkansas,and I will have more to report on the Ohio River and Indiana/Kentucky flooding. Meanwhile, volunteers who can come to Arkansas "self contained" may call Reformation Church at 501-565-4519. Financial gifts should be sent to ELCA Domestic Disaster Response/ PO Box 71764/Chicago, IL 60694.