New Homes for Storm Survivors

Dear Friend,

It can take years for a town to recover from a tornado. But many of the survivors of the recent storms can't wait that long. They need a place to live—right now.

That's why Samaritan's Purse is providing reinforced manufactured homes in Mississippi and elsewhere that were recently ravaged by tornadoes. I've met and prayed with survivors in the towns of Amory, Rolling Fork, and Silver City, which were scarred by an outbreak of tornadoes that took 26 lives along a 100-mile path of destruction, leaving hundreds with nowhere to call home.

Arletha Woods told me what she and husband Jerome went through. They had just returned from their daughter's wedding rehearsal when the storm struck the town of Amory, ripped apart their trailer, and blew them into the yard. "When I opened my eyes, the trailer was gone and I was laying in the dirt, covered with debris." She cried out to her Savior: "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!" Thankfully, the Lord spared their lives, and neighbors took Jerome to the hospital and welcomed her into their home.

As Arletha walked through one of our new homes, she admired the sparkling kitchen and said, "I can see myself having coffee here at this new table."

Samaritan's Purse has identified dozens more households in Mississippi who need our help because they were uninsured, underinsured, or living in desperate situations. We are committed to replacing up to 500 houses for survivors of this spring's tornado outbreak.

Josh Hatcher has endured one tragedy after another—first his house burned in February, and then his trailer was wrapped around a tree by the tornado in March. Since the storm, he and his two children have been living in a hotel and at a friend's house. "We're so excited to receive a new three-bedroom mobile home," he said.

"I know better days are coming," Josh told Samaritan's Purse volunteers who helped recover items from the wreckage of his trailer. "God has a reason for everything. He's shown me that through anything that happens, if I put Him first, I can get through it."

We are building these homes to be as safe and durable as possible, and we're also covering them in prayer. Each home includes strengthened joists, thicker walls, tempered glass, and extra tie-downs. They are engineered to withstand winds up to 110 mph, comparable to the tornado that devastated Selma, Alabama, earlier this year.

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Built To Last: These homes are built with thicker walls and reinforced to withstand winds up to 100 mph.

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Signs of faith along the assembly line.

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The first shipment of homes are 2-bedroom models, but we will also be offering 3-bedroom designs for families who need them.

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The new homes are furnished so that families can move in as soon as they are installed on a lot.

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Kitchens are complete with new appliances.

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The sight of a new kitchen table imade tornado survivor Arletha Woods feel right at home, as she thought about being able to enjoy her morning coffee.

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It was my privilege to meet with storm survivors as we met to pray over their new homes.

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In Kentucky, our teams are still in the process of constructing more than 100 houses for survivors of the 2021 tornado that devastated the town of Mayfield—plus we are building two new neighborhoods in eastern Kentucky to relocate families out of dangerous hollers that have flooded the last two years. When we build new houses, we always include a safe room—an interior bathroom built with reinforced concrete and designed to withstand an EF-5 tornado. We've also installed hundreds of underground storm shelters next to existing houses so that families will have a place of refuge the next time a storm threatens. Samaritan's Purse is also working to replace homes in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, and Tennessee.

ON THE GROUND: This Memorial Day, Kristy Graham invites listeners into a conversation with Operation Heal Our Patriots’ chaplain Luis Anda. He served in both the Navy and the Army so this day is very personal to him. He shares about the cost of freedom, and how we can only find true, lasting freedom through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Praise God for how He is working! In Shawnee, Oklahoma, our volunteers built a relationship with a family, and the grateful homeowner heard the Gospel and prayed to receive Christ as his Lord and Savior. In Wynne, Arkansas, a member of our team had the opportunity to share with a FEMA worker and lead him to saving faith in Jesus Christ. "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Thank you for your prayers and support for the work of Samaritan's Purse here at home and around the world. Every day, we work in the Name of Jesus Christ to help victims of disaster, disease, poverty, famine, and war. As I write this, we are beginning the 12th Alaskan season of Operation Heal Our Patriots, our ministry to strengthen the marriages of wounded veterans and their spouses. We look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for this summer. May God bless you.

Sincerely,
Franklin Graham