By staff writer Chelsea Pardue

Two weeks ago, I made my third journey to Tuscaloosa. My first visit was last April, less than 24 hours after a massive tornado devastated the town. My second came six months later, when some areas were already rebuilt and others looked like not even a branch had been removed from the rubble. Each time, I met new people, heard new stories, and felt entirely overwhelmed.

Somehow, I thought this trip would be a mild week full of the same stories and same emotions that had been dulled by months of dealing with the tragedy.

But this time, I met people who were in a different situation.

Tuscaloosa is rezoning. The town is buying new land for many people, who will have to rebuild at these locations. This kind of process is never a quick one, and there are people who still don’t have a place to build.

They are the hurting people, the ones who feel alone, abandoned, and angry. They are angry at the town for taking their homes. They are angry at Samaritan's Purse and other organizations because we can’t do anything about it. And they want to be angry at God, although they can’t quite bring themselves to question His plan.

Their emotions are fresh, their wounds are open, and they have not been dulled by the many months of waiting.

I met Abraham and Cynthia Lee at her mother’s house. They live in the back room. Nine months ago, they owned a house that they had lived in for 34 years, where they had raised all their children. Now it’s gone, and they don’t know where to turn. They don’t want to give up the land they own, which makes the process of finding new land that much more painful.



As we talked, I saw a new side to the story. I had spent the week talking to church officials and people who volunteered with Samaritan's Purse. Most openly admitted that they weren’t directly affected by the storm. They told me that Tuscaloosa is recovering well, that it was great to see the town come together, and that good things came out of the tornado.

I don’t doubt any of those things. Many parts of the town have completely recovered, and people are moving on with their lives. I saw firsthand that people all over Tuscaloosa wanted to help each other. And I have heard story after story about how, even though no one wishes a tornado would hit their home, people’s lives were changed for the better.

None of those things change the fact that there are people in Tuscaloosa who are still strongly affected by the storm. To the Lees, the storm happened just yesterday. Nothing has changed. They still don’t have a home.

Not every story I write has a happy ending. But not every story ends when the last period is typed on the page.

The Lees are hurting, and it hurt my heart to hear them pour out their pain. I can’t say that in a few months they will have the home they want and everything will be OK again. But I can say that they still have faith in God.

They wanted to question Him. I could hear the faint “why God?” in their voices as they talked. I also heard them loudly and strongly say, “God has a plan. We may not know what that plan is, but He has a plan.”

That faith is what gives this story the surety of a happy ending, even if that ending isn’t now. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7, ESV).

God cares for His people. He will not leave us to deal with life’s problems on our own. We face challenges, but we will always overcome. Things may not look like the fairytale ending we dream up, but things will be OK.

When things fall apart, we can live with this promise: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, ESV).

In early January, South Fork Baptist Church in Hickory, North Carolina, became our base camp as we responded to a large storm that swept through Burke County. Staff writer Michelle de Carion talked with Pastor Scott Thomas about his perspective on partnering with Samaritan’s Purse during a disaster.

Through this response, what have you seen are the spiritual and emotional needs of the community?

We’ve been preaching and teaching what it means to be a disciple of Christ here at the church. The sermon prepared for the Sunday after the storm was entitled “Mimicking Jesus.” When this first happened, a lot of people told me, ‘The Lord is trying to get our attention.’ I began to pray about changing the sermon to fit that. But after seeing the response of our church, the other churches in the area, and Samaritans Purse, I realized that my sermon has already been preached.

That’s the thing that has overwhelmed me the most—to see Christ lived out in the members of the church and the members of your organization.

As you stop and look at the spiritual needs of our community, they needed to see what it really means to be a Christian. I’m proud of our community for volunteering with Samaritan’s Purse, and I’m excited for the future ministry possibilities. We are seeing a lot of churches coming together to show the love of Christ, so there is a lot of potential out there for us.

What kind of challenges have you had as a pastor ministering to the people in this area?

We have institutionalized Christianity so much. We have church and Sunday school … for a lot of folks that is what Christianity is all about. But when you stop and look at the life of Christ and His commands, those things actually have nothing to do with what Christianity is all about.

It’s important to go to church, but it must be more about living like Christ in our everyday lives, not only within the church walls to our Christian families, but outside the walls to those who don’t know Christ.

They need to see that Christ loves them, and when they see that we earn the right to then tell them about having a relationship with Jesus.

What is your perspective of Samaritan’s Purse coming in and partnering with you in this work?

This has been a wonderful three days. From the day they came on site on Thursday morning until now, I have been amazed. I love the way they have ministered not only to the physical needs of the community, but to the spiritual needs as well. More often than not when I speak with the leaders, it’s not about a certain problem, but it’s about a person who got saved or another person who rededicated his life. I have been very impressed with everything Samaritan’s Purse has done.

What would you say to someone who might be questioning where God is in this disaster?

I’ve been through a lot of difficult situations in my life. It’s easy to say God works all things together for good. It’s another thing to really see it or understand it. One thing I have learned is that when I don’t understand, God knows what is happening.

On Saturday, I came into the church and there was mail sitting on my desk. I got a letter from somebody who is not a member of the church. Inside was a check for a large sum of money. We prayed Saturday night and Sunday night into Monday, asking God, ‘What are you doing?’ We thanked the Lord for the financial gift that was given, but we had no idea why we received it.

But God knew what was coming, and He put it in the heart of a person from another church to send us money. God laid it upon that person’s heart to give a week before this disaster came to allow our church to minister in the area. So you see that God was in control.

The hardest question I have ever been asked as a pastor is why. Sometimes God shows us why He is doing what He is doing, but sometimes He chooses not to. And sometimes I have to say to people ‘I don’t know why … but God knows.’ I don’t understand why this storm occurred, but I trust His heart.

Pictured above is Suda-san, a homeowner whose house is being rebuilt by Samaritan's Purse in Japan. Mr. and Mrs. Suda lost their pregnant daughter, swept away before their eyes in the tsunami. They weren’t sure if they even wanted to return to their home, the scene of such a great tragedy. Our team began praying for them, and they decided to let us rebuild.

The volunteer crew adopted Suda-san as one of their own, made him a supervisor’s hat, and put him to work. While the pain of his loss remains, his frequent smiles are testimony that the unconditional love being shown by the team is making a difference.

“His smile shows that God is begin to heal him and restore his hope for the future again, and blesses my heart,” said Ayako Lawrence, an SP staff member. “Please continue to pray for him as well as for his wife.”

Dr. Dan Galat, an orthopedist who served with the Samaritan’s Purse Post-Residency Program, blogs from Tenwek Hospital in Bomet, Kenya.

Some brilliant, long-past resident of our house at Tenwek had the foresight to plant a coffee bush in the back yard. And so, last month, we harvested the first crop of our own, homegrown Kenyan coffee (although small enough only for one French-press pot).

The processing of the coffee, from the picking of ripe berries to the roasting of the “green beans,” was quite involved, but fully worth it after taking the first perfect sip of fresh-roasted brew.

When Heather and I were researching opportunities for orthopedic mission service in 2006, we stumbled across Tenwek Hospital, which happened to be in Kenya. At the time we had no clue, geographically, where this small country lie on the African map.

But in our passion for home-roasted coffee, our hands-down favorite had always been (and still is) Kenyan, with its characteristic “bright citrus notes, and black currant, winey hues” (as described on sweetmarias.com). We thought, “If the coffee coming from Kenya is this good, it must be a really cool place to serve.”

So here we ironically are, now full circle, thanking God for bringing us sovereignly to this place of service, while drinking a cup of our very own Kenyan brew.

God often works and directs in and through our passions to accomplish the purposes of His kingdom. What are your passions? And how is God directing you to strongly serve Him in and through those passions?

Let us encourage one another to step out in in the unique gifting, calling and interests that God Himself has given us. Oh, and once you have tasted home-roasted coffee, you can never go back ... nothing else compares!

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4.



Picking coffee berries from our bush in the back yard.


The beans inside each newly-picked berry must be squeezed out or separated from the fruit, and then allowed to dry


After drying (using the "pulp natural" method of processing), the parchment covering each bean must be peeled off. The yellowish beans on the right are "parchment coffee" and the beans on the left are the "green beans" which have each been individually hand peeled. This is the longest and most meticulous part of the processing


Green coffee ready for roasting


A hot-air popcorn popper serves as an excellent coffee roaster


Fresh-roasted beans ready for grinding and brewing