Updates on Joplin, Missouri

Today the news continues to pour in from Joplin. The death toll is still on the rise with at least 116 confirmed dead and more than 500 injuires reported. Volunteers and rescue workers are still in the midst of conducting building to building searches for the missing, trapped, and injured. One of the women that I work with here at Missouri Baptist Children's Home has family in Joplin. She left this morning with supplies and prayers to help aid her family and friends in Joplin. Although her fmaily is safe, with only damages to their family homes, her teenage nieces are in prayer for their friends who are still missing.

If you haven't seen this footage yet, take a moment to watch a short film of the tornado that ravaged Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday night.


Continue to pray for the families that are searching the remains of their destroyed homes to see if their is anything they can salvage. Some of the families are searching for things like wallets and IDs that will help them secure the aide they are going to need in the future. Pray that they can find these items.

If you would like to donate to help the tornado victims in Joplin, Missouri, you can do so by donating through the Joplin branch of the Red Cross at http://www.redcross-ozarks.org/donate/. Please remember when donating for disaster relief that it is important that you choose well known and reliable sources to get your aide to the disaster victims.

Thank you for praying for Joplin!

Pray for Joplin, Missouri

You know it's bad when a smaller Missouri town like Joplin makes the national news. You hope that you are wrong and that it's actually something really good and awesome, but this weekend it was bad--very bad.

Many of you have probably already heard about the tonardos that ripped through Joplin this weekend. This is the second set of serious tornados to strike Missouri in the past two months. Saint Louis (withing a mile of where I live) was hit with what were dubbed "The Good Friday Tornados" now it seems that Joplin will suffer. Although the damage was severe in both places, Joplin has clearly suffered the worst.

As of this morning there are 89 confirmed deaths and the number is still expected to rise. They are estimating that 30% of the town of has been destroyed and that number may also increase to as much as 40%. The local hospital and high school were both destroyed along with at least 2,000 other structures.

Needless to say, please pray for Joplin. Pray for the families who have lost loved ones and friends. Pray for rebuilding and healing in the community. Please pray for Joplin, Missouri.