Volunteers are helping families pick up the pieces of their lives in Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. At least 100 twisters tore through Midwest states in a weekend of violent storms.
Rhett Salisbury pushed with all his strength against the bedroom door to protect his family as an EF3 tornado slammed into Minden, Iowa. He and his wife, Faith, and their three young kids ran for cover as debris whipped violently through their home.
An EF3 tornado ripped through the Salisburys’ home and community in Minden, Iowa, on April 26. Our volunteers tarped their roof and helped clean up their yard.
“I held onto my kids for dear life—they were screaming and crying. I was trying to calm them down while we heard all the debris and everything breaking around us,” Faith said, recounting the terrifying moments as their home was ripped apart with them inside.
Frightening chaos turned to eery quiet before the deafening violence of the twister returned as it continued on its destructive path. They realized the eye of the tornado had passed directly through their home.
Miraculously, the young family of five survived, but their home and surrounding community was left in shambles.
In Shock
Samaritan’s Purse responded to the hardest hit areas in three states after more than 100 tornadoes wreaked havoc across the Midwest and Plains during the deadly multi-day outbreak.
Volunteers join in prayer in the Minden neighborhood where twisters ripped up trees and homes.
Scores of volunteers have already responded this week to help families tarp roofs, clear debris, and remove fallen trees in Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Our teams are also sharing with families the hope only found in Jesus Christ—which is exactly what Faith Salisbury needed to hear.
There’d been very little warning before her family’s life was turned upside down.
Faith was preparing dinner when the sirens went off, and only moments later the EF3 tornado was barreling towards them.
“You never expect this to happen or to live through something like that. We didn’t even eat that night. Everything was left. My pot of boiled eggs is still in the sink,” Faith said.
Tears fell from Faith’s eyes as she expressed the panic she felt that night.
After the tornado cleared, she said, it was pouring rain and their yard was full of fallen trees, twisted sheet metal, and scattered debris. Then a strong smell of gas hit them—the main pipeline across the street had burst.
“Gas filled the air. The kids could barely breathe. I grabbed towels to put over their faces and we got as far away from the house as we could,” she said. “I was trying to calm them down but I couldn’t even calm myself down. I was in shock.”
She recounted the heartbreak of seeing her little ones drenched in rain, crying, and shaking from cold and fear.
“I know we’ll have start over again, but I’m glad we’re alive. It’s definitely a miracle.”
Another Miracle in the Midst of Loss
Even our host church in Minden, Harvest Alliance Church, experienced a total loss. The tornado reduced the congregation’s building to splinters after barreling through the Salisburys’ neighborhood.
The twister snapped the tops of trees and whipped debris through homes.
Despite the church’s devastation, they invited our teams to park equipment and deploy from their property to serve the surrounding community. The Salisbury home was the first where God led our volunteers.
We quickly got to work tarping their roof and removing piles of debris from their yard. As volunteers worked on their home, Faith encountered another miracle.
God prompted volunteer Rand Bowman, who also serves as a Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplain, to share the Gospel. Leading her through the “Steps to Peace with God” tract, Rand walked Faith toward faith in Jesus Christ.
Standing amid the pieces of her tattered home, God worked in Faith’s heart, putting together the pieces that had been missing in her life.
She realized “being a good person” would never be enough to experience peace in this life or the eternal joy that only Jesus Christ could offer her and her family. We praise God that Faith invited Jesus Christ to be her Lord and Savior that day.
The next day she found our teams to tell them about the change she was experiencing.
“We’re grateful for all of y’all coming out and helping us,” Faith said. “We were so blessed by it. The volunteers have done a lot for us since they’ve been here. I didn’t know groups like this existed. It’s definitely a blessing for sure—it’s amazing. I mean—wow—being able to talk to you all. It’s been an eye-opener to me. God protected us. God is real.”
Pray for Faith as she grows in her relationship with the Lord, and for her family that they would all enjoy the hope that she has found in Jesus Christ. As the Salisburys and many others continue to work through the emotions of grief and loss and begin to rebuild their lives, pray that they would experience the presence of God walking alongside them in the days ahead.
Watch more on our deployment to Nebraska and Iowa.
