Lutherans Find Little to Salvage after Tornado in South Dakota

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "As I stood in the middle of the 42 blocks of total devastation that was once Spencer, S.D., there was nothing I could immediately identify to be salvaged or saved," said the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, associate director for Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.  "The devastation in Spencer is some of the worst I have ever seen."
     "Spencer was just another Midwestern community of about 48 blocks of tree-lined streets, houses and churches, a bank and grain elevator," said Furst.  "Of those 188 structures, 179 were destroyed" by a tornado on May 30.  "No trees are standing anymore, and only a few houses on the edge of the community survived."  Spencer, a town of about 300 people, is located 45 miles west of Sioux Falls.
     "Lutheran Disaster Response is here, with a response managed by Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota," said Furst.  "In addition to the immediate response of counselors and volunteers following the chaotic first week after the tornado, Lutheran Disaster Response has provided a grant of $10,000 to be distributed among the members of Lutheran congregations in Spencer."
     "We are here with volunteers helping in clean-up efforts.  Counselors are talking with the people of the community and the surrounding farms. Volunteers are helping to pick the fields clear of debris, so farming can continue," said Furst.   "Food is being distributed through a local warehouse program being used by many denominations, where urgently-needed items can be obtained by the people."
     "I had preached at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Spencer just two weeks before the tornado," said the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, bishop of the ELCA's South Dakota Synod.  "I am so glad to have been able to be with that congregation when it was intact and then, on May 31, to be with them again in a very different setting."  The 86-year-old church was destroyed by the tornado.
     "The follow-through with pastors and people after disasters and losses is critical and painful," said DeGroot-Nesdahl.
     A group of teenagers found a statue of Jesus in the rubble, said Furst.  "The teenagers explained they had found the statue and propped it up, because people needed to see that Jesus is with them."
     "When I looked at the photograph of the statue of Jesus, it had no arms," said Furst.  "As I spent time in Spencer and the surrounding farms, I soon had the answer as to where Jesus' arms were."
     "I saw the arms of Jesus busy at work in the nearby town of Salem, where a tractor-trailer full of food was being delivered.  Here were the arms of teenagers, sorting out boxes of food items and getting them ready for distribution to the townspeople of Spencer," Furst said.
     "I saw the arms of Jesus offering comfort and love, and I saw the arms of Jesus working in the surrounding farms as hundreds of volunteers picked the fields and cleaned up debris, so farming can resume.  The arms of Jesus are here, present through the ministry of Lutheran Disaster Response," said Furst.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html