Friday, July 15, 2011

Mr. MacDonald

Soon after one Journey team left Joplin, another arrived. This time a small, but mighty crew of three.

The first day of their trip they were alone, cleaning out a home of an elderly man. His insurance covered his home, but like many people would have to pay to have it demoed/cleaned. And, like we've seen many times, that expense would take a huge chunk of the money intended to get them a new home.



A tornado takes everything... everything! You take for granted without even thinking about it, modern conveniences such as street signs. They are gone. Imagine trying to navigate a new city that has no street signs, no landmarks, and often no house numbers (well... where there is even a house). That's what every single team that comes does and somehow has navigated. 


Going through someone's personal belongings (or what remains of them) is a weird and emotional thing. The team called Mr. MacDonald who was about 90 years old and very hard of hearing. But, they got to talk to him which meant he survived and was being taken care of. They told him they were working at his house today and if he needed anything to give them a call. And so it began...



The entire house was covered like this. Poetically the newspaper's headline reads "I know there is help." Everything was bagged (which we later learned shouldn't be) and taken to the curb. As they worked, they began imagining who this Mr. MacDonald was and is. Did he serve in the war? Are these his grandkids? I bet he was a professor! Did he hoard all this stuff? What did it look like before?

After the first day, the three of them had made a huge dent in the work. Clearing two whole rooms of debris. I've told team after team "you'll be amazed at how much work you can get done." It's true. The power of a team working together for one goal is truly powerful!

The evening of the first night a team from Life Connection in Independence, MO arrived. We decided more people is always a good thing so the next morning the two smaller teams joined forces to create one super debris removing team!

They went back to Mr. MacDonald's home to finish up and get absolutely everything out. Soon this...


Became this... 


Before leaving, they gathered up all the pictures and other items they were able to salvage and called Mr. MacDonald to tell him they'd be at the church whenever he wanted to come and get them. 

Later that night I got the previdge to meet him as I handed what was left of his home to him. He looked at me and just smiled in amazement. He probably told me 4-5 times "I can't believe how good of a job they did! Please tell them how great of a job they did and how much I appreciate it!"

I went back inside the church with tears in my eyes and waited for the super debris removing team to get back so I could tell them of Mr. MacDonald's joy!

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