Bethany Lutheran Church – West Branch, Iowa

As we entered town, we did so from the Northeast side that took the full force of the tornado. The pictures and videos out there do not even begin to give a glimpse into the sheer destruction left behind. My stomach turned as I drove down streets I have done hundreds of times many years ago. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Debris was piled up outside of nearly every house and along every street. Trees were sheered off leaving only stumps behind. Roofs were missing and windows blown out. Some houses, buildings, and businesses nearly completely gone. The Lennox plant, which is massive, was left with nearly half the plant or more crumpled to the ground. Driving to the Mainstreet district revealed similar sights. Sections of brick buildings decades and probably even a century or more old tumbled to the ground, the road still blocked off, and I wondered how many of the buildings could even be salvaged. Many of those buildings I had climbed on inspecting hail damage after a storm in 2000 when I was an insurance adjuster. While the buildings were visible signs of the damage what wasn’t visible were the faces of those people whose lives certainly have been turned upside down. How does one move forward after such a horrific tragedy?

I knew immediately I wanted to help but it’s hard to know where and how. As Christians, Jesus gives us the command to love our neighbor and our response to God’s amazing grace is to come alongside a brother or sister in need. Recently, Bishop Burk and Pastor Ostrem, Assistant to the Bishop, visited Marshalltown and shared their own thoughts and how we can assist those in Marshalltown at this time. Click here to be taken to that article and how, if you are moved, can give financially to the rebuild efforts.

We pray for all in Marshalltown and other communities in central Iowa as they move forward and we are reminded, in times such as this, we are in this together and the presence of Christ to one another.