Warning sirens aren’t an uncommon sound when you live in the heart of tornado alley. When they went off in a neighborhood in Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday evening, Jean Shouse wasn’t too concerned.

But she soon noticed how dark it was becoming outside. Then Jean and her husband, Frank, heard a distant rumble that was quickly getting closer.

“My husband said we’d better get in the hallway,” she said. “A few seconds later the house began to shake. I thought the roof was going to cave in. They said it didn’t last longer than 30 seconds. It seemed like a lot longer than that.”

A massive tornado ripped through Joplin on May 22, killing at least 142 people as it tore through a densely populated section of the city. It is the deadliest single tornado in the United States since record keeping began more than 60 years ago.




Entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble. Piles of wreckage are all that’s left of what was once a home, a place that was supposed to be safe and secure. People wander through the ruins with a dazed look. They cry. They hug each other. They wonder where to turn for help.

Other neighborhoods received a glancing blow. Residents are grateful that their houses survived. Yet there is still damage and destruction. Downed trees lay on roofs or in yards. Debris is everywhere.

Samaritan’s Purse has come to Joplin to help—our third major storm response in the past six weeks. Thousands of volunteers have turned out to help hundreds of families devastated by the storm, letting them know there is hope.




“We want to respond to everyone that we can,” said Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham, who visited Joplin on Memorial Day. “We come in the Name of Jesus Christ.”

Graham, who met with volunteers at our command center before driving through the disaster area and talking with more volunteers and storm victims, stressed the importance of prayer for the victims of the storm and for the people working to help them.

“The greatest thing we can do is pray,” he said. “This community has been hit hard. This tornado will go down in the record books.”

Our teams are removing fallen trees and debris, making emergency repairs on storm-damaged houses, and helping salvage valuable possessions. They pray with the homeowners, and present them with a Bible. The message is clear—God cares, and He hasn’t forgotten them.

“It’s about being the hands and feet of Christ,” said a volunteer named Fred Smith. “It’s living the life of Christ. It’s representing Jesus for people in need, to give them hope. We have to do something. I’m compelled. I write software for the Air Force. My job is so insignificant compared to this.”

Fred is the leader for the team that worked on Wes Henderson’s home four days after the storm. They cut up and removed a large tree that fell in his yard, removed debris, and salvaged what they could from a storage shed that was obliterated.

“It’s wonderful,” Mr. Henderson said. “It’s hard to believe you are here.”




Fred lives in Joplin and wanted to help his neighbors. He said that no other organizations were scheduling volunteers in the first few days after the twister.

“The people from Samaritan’s Purse are the only ones willing to put their feet on the ground,” he said. “Thank God you guys showed up.”

While Fred and his team were helping Mr. Henderson, another crew was nearby at the Shouse home.

Frank Shouse said God must have been watching over him and Jean. The storm blew out windows, downed trees, and damaged their roof. Yet they still have a home, one that became more livable when Samaritan’s Purse removed debris and downed trees from their yard, and patched a hole in their roof with tarp.

“What a blessing you people are,” Jean Shouse said. “Even with the little bit of damage we have compared to other people, it’s overwhelming just to get the trash and debris out of the yard and remove the trees.”




A crew from Winston-Salem, North Carolina—near the Samaritan’s Purse international headquarters in Boone—helped the Shouses.

“My son moved to North Carolina a year ago,” Jean said. “He said I’m going to come. I said don’t, you’ve got a family to take care of. And then here you came from North Carolina.”

Samaritan’s Purse has responded to two other major storms within the past few weeks. We sent three Disaster Relief Units when a series of violent tornadoes ripped across the heart of North Carolina in April. Two units were dispatched to Alabama when devastating twisters hit the state in late April, and we are continuing to work in the Tuscaloosa area.

One of our Disaster Relief Units wrapped up its work in Alabama and moved to Missouri, setting up a base at the Joplin campus of Forest Park Baptist Church.

“This is the worst storm season I have seen in my lifetime,” Graham said. “These survivors need to know that God loves them, and we’re grateful that He has given us what we need to respond to these disasters within hours.”

Samaritan's Purse , United States , DR Extranet , U.S. Disaster Relief , Deadly Tornado in Missouri