Samaritan’s Purse volunteers are serving as the hands and feet of Christ after a devastating tornado swept through east-central Wisconsin.
When the sky started turning black, Mike Kueper turned on the TV. “Get to a basement now,” the weather forecaster warned. He grabbed his yellow labrador Hank and made their way to the basement.
They made it just in time. He could hear his windows shattering and flying debris punching holes in the roof.
Please pray for the residents of Appleton and Menasha, Wisconsin, as they continue to recover from the storm.
Complete silence finally came after about 20 minutes. He crept upstairs to survey the damage.
Mike could barely see his lawn underneath all the branches and debris. One neighbor’s garage looked like it had exploded. Trees were ripped out of the ground, and one had crashed onto his garage, barely missing his prized 1968 Firebird.
“It was a nightmare,” he said.
He has lived in Menasha, Wisconsin, his entire life, but he had never seen something quite like this. His yard needed to be cleaned up but he knew he couldn’t do it—he was still recovering from a shoulder surgery he had four days prior.
His niece learned that Samaritan’s Purse was coming to help the community and asked our team to help her uncle. Before he knew it, volunteers were at his door, ready to help. He was impressed as he watched them haul debris out of his yard and remove the tree from the garage.
After the twister brought a tree down on Mike’s house, volunteers work to clean up the debris.
He was shocked to learn that the team came because they loved him in Jesus’ Name and expected nothing from him in return. “I didn’t think there would be people out here like this, and it just makes me cry,” he said, teary eyed. “This is like a dream.”
Hearing Good News After the Storm
The storm could not have come at a worse time for Mike. But the tornado seemed like an answer to prayer for his family. They had been praying for decades that he would surrender his life to Jesus, and the storm had seemed to open his heart toward God.
Talking to our team made him start to wonder: “Why would these people go out helping people? Is this God doing this?” he asked.
Seeing love displayed in the form of hard work softened Mike’s heart to the Gospel—an answer to years of his family’s prayers.
Volunteer Troy Galetti shared with Mike that the team came because of the storm, but ultimately, they came to share with him the eternal hope found in Christ.
We praise God that Troy shared the Good News with Mike, and that Mike prayed to receive Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior.
“He went through the Gospel, and it seems like it changed me today,” he said.
Troy presented Mike with his first Bible, signed by the volunteers who worked on his home. He was thankful for the gift and was excited to begin learning more about God through His Word.
Volunteer Troy Galetti presents a Bible signed by the team to homeowner Mike Kueper, who after seeing their work on his yard after a recent tornado, committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ.
His newfound joy cannot be contained—he laughed and hugged our team as they celebrated his decision to accept Christ. He is thankful that they demonstrated His love and helped point him to the Savior.
“I love you guys,” he said, beaming to the volunteers.
Praying Ahead of the Twister
The night before the tornado, Dr. Khadijah Enoh felt the Lord put it on her heart to pray for Him to protect her three children.
She didn’t know that He would answer her prayer the next day.
Khadijah and her husband Dr. Agei were at work when the tornado sirens went off. Her mind flashed to her children—the eldest was with friends, safe from the tornado’s path. But her two youngest were spending the day at home in Menasha, and she feared the worst.
The children were playing on the second floor when a powerful wind forced open the front door. They rushed to the basement.
“It’s going to be fine. We’re going to live through this,” Malaika, 12, told her 10-year-old brother.
A Samaritan’s Purse volunteer presents a Bible to Khadijah after a team of volunteers cleared debris from her property.
After the tornado passed, Khadijah tried to call her children—no answer. She called her husband, but his phone died in the middle of their conversation. As she drove home, she called neighbors and asked them to check on her children.
Her 20-minute drive home took her 45 minutes because of the storm damage. With every passing minute, her mind went deeper into a spiral.
Finally, a neighbor called. On the other end, she could faintly hear her daughter talking, and relief flooded her body.
“Just hearing her voice brought back my senses,” she said.
When she reached her street, she didn’t recognize it. Roofs had been stripped off her neighbors’ homes and debris filled the road.
“I had never seen this kind of devastation in a place that I call home,” she said.
Yet, her home was miraculously standing. “It just reminded me of the majesty of God,” she said.
Unable to get her car down the long driveway, Khadijah ran on foot, crossing over fallen trees and power lines to her children, who were waiting for her in front of the house. “God had His hand on this house and on them,” she said.
Her house sustained a lot of roof damage, and the yard was covered in fallen trees and debris. Some of the windows had shattered. But she was grateful that her children were alive and that they still had a place to live.
As she wept with neighbors who had lost everything, she knew why God had protected her home. “We want our house—in the midst of all this desolation—to be a beacon of hope.”
The Lord Is Working in the Aftermath
Before they could house their neighbors, they knew there was work to be done on the property. Yet they didn’t know where to begin and worried about how long it would take.
Our volunteers showed up to help, clearing big trees and repairing damages to the home.
“I’m overwhelmed. I have no words for how people just show up and get to work. I have never taken, ‘Love thy neighbor’ as seriously as I do right now,” Khadijah said.
She is deeply encouraged by the volunteers who cared for her family through their service and prayers. “It just felt like they were giving me an invisible hug with all their orange shirts,” she said.
Before leaving, the team gathered around her to pray. “We pray, Lord, that You’ll continue to bring [Khadijah] under Your wing and as she moves forward,” said volunteer Will Statezny.
Please pray for our team as they continue to serve homeowners and share the Gospel with them. Pray also as they serve believers, encouraging them with the love of Christ.
Troy leads in prayer for Mike as the volunteer team gathers around.
