Date: May 26th 2011

Greetings all,

I wanted to share this email with you for those who would like to help out the folks of Joplin, Missouri. I will be traveling through there myself in the next two weeks and will likely share some information when I send out my newsletter.

God Bless,

Travis Main

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Dear brethren,

Please excuse the mass email. However I wanted to inform as many brethren as possible. Several have called me to ask about the situation and the brethren in Joplin, MO and the tornado that hit Joplin about 6 o’clock Sunday evening, May 22, 2011.

When I arrived Monday to teach at the Bible Institute of Missouri, I suggested to the students about going to Joplin to help out which they agreed. Thus, we left around 12:30 and arrived in Joplin around 1:30 in the afternoon. At that time because of the rain, they were not sending out any new rescue crews. However, we were able to help with their missing persons hotline which we did until 6 or 6:30 that evening. When we started, those in charge said they had over 700 known missing persons. The last thing I heard yesterday was that number was over a thousand.

Yesterday, Brent Green and I along with a couple of other men went back. This time we were able to help with some clean-up. Then later in the day (around 4), we were able to make our way over to the building of the 26th and Connecticut Church of Christ. Their building sat on the edge of the horrific destruction area. They had quite a bit of damage and the roof on one corner of their building completely gone. On Monday, their auditorium had 2-3 inches of water in it. Of course, that is bad enough but certainly not the worse part. They have five families who houses were completely destroyed. Of those, three of the four members of one family were killed. The daughter was away at college, and sadly she lost both parents and a brother in the storm. In addition, a sister of one of our members at Kansas Expressway church in Springfield was killed in the storm.

Several have asked me what they can do to help, and here is my suggestion. The best thing you can do is to send funds to help with the various costs involved in this kind of destruction. Because of the damage to their building, the 26th & Connecticut church cannot receive material goods. One of the elders of that congregation gave me this address for anyone who would like to help financially. Please send your check to the 26th and Connecticut Church of Christ, P.O. Box 45, Joplin, MO 64802. Needless to say, there are many expenses beyond what insurance companies will pay.

Just as important as financial help, please remember them in your prayers. Also please feel free to forward this on to others. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to call or write.

Chuck Northrop

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