On May 19-20 of 2013, Oklahoma was hit strong by tornadoes in and around the metro area. "I remember the night of the 19th very clear because Edmond, where we live, was hit with a small tornado that night" David said. "We had several families over to the house that night for a gathering and we all ended up inside the UCO basement to dodge the storms. I remember snapping a picture on my phone of the tornado just before we ran for cover. It didn't do much damage to people's homes". But when the others hit that were so more destructive, David and Shonda and their family became heavily involved in the aftermath. Dustin immediately dispatched in Air Force uniform to help in search and rescue of the devastation from the EF5 that had hit Moore. Many of our dear friends lost nearly everything they had owned. Andrea, their daughter-in-law made the first call by communicating to people in Moore to begin collecting clothes, food and find shelter for those that had lost so much. That very week, David met in the community of Little Axe to assess the damages from an EF4 tornado that had hit on May 19.
With the help of Mending Hearts Church, DayStar Television Network, Somebody Cares America, Mercury One and many volunteers, they were blessed in bringing relief to the families that were so greatly affected in the Moore, Little Axe, Carney and Shawnee communities. From the very first week, we were working hard and burning up the road donating clothes, diapers, food, water, clean up tools, generators, camping equipment, and so much more. Then over the next year we were extremely blessed to replace and/or repair homes, construct new heavy-duty storage buildings and livestock shelters. Home missions groups called us from as far as New Jersey to come and help bring gift cards and donate their time for hard work in the hot sun.
To this day, we still communicate with people we met while working in the neighborhoods and backyards. We were privileged to pray with them, encourage their hope, and share by generously giving to their needs. We built relationships with these people and we will never forget them. This is evangelism at it's best! We believe you can't do a good job reaching the world if you can't do a great job at reaching your neighbor.