Terry Fischer, community outreach minister for the Memorial Road Church of Christ, leads a prayer before volunteers disperse to aid tornado victims. (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

Blogging live from Oklahoma City

Right now, one of the least effective things you can do to help Oklahoma tornado victims is load up your car with tools and bottled water and head toward the city of Moore.

As police continue search and rescue operations in Moore, just south of Oklahoma City, they are turning away people trying to get into the area to assist, church members report. At least one relief team from a Church of Christ was turned away early today. Instead, the volunteers are working on relief efforts for other parts of the state hit by recent tornadoes — including Shawnee, Luther and Edmond.

Churches of Christ in the Oklahoma City metro are setting up relief centers and housing victims of the storms. Many more are accepting donations for tornado relief.

Here’s a brief list of churches and ministries accepting donations. We will post updates as we get them.

Churches:

• Oakcrest Church of Christ, 1111 SW 89th Street, Oklahoma City. (405) 631-5534. The church has set up a shelter for storm victims and is receiving relief supplies. (See minister Ben Glover’s interview with Fox News.)

• Memorial Road Church of Christ, 2221 E Memorial Road, Edmond, Okla. (405) 478-0166. The church has set up a donations page and is coordinating relief teams for tornado-hit areas across the state.

• Capitol Hill Church of Christ, 2801 S. Robinson, Oklahoma City, is setting up a non-emergent medical station for those who need medications replaced, have minor injuries or need triage for more major injuries.

Ministries:

• Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort. This Nashville, Tenn.-based ministry has sent a relief shipment to the Lakeview Church of Christ in Shawnee, Okla., to assist with relief efforts there.

• Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team. This ministry has representatives on the way to Moore to assess needs. The ministry plans to work with the Oakcrest Church of Christ.

• Disaster Assistance CoC, supported by Churches of Christ, is sending a representative to Moore to assess needs. The ministry continues to serve meals to volunteers and people in need in the disaster-hit Texas cities of West and Cleburne.

• WFR Relief Ministries. This ministry of the White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe, La. (of “Duck Dynasty” fame), also is headed to central Oklahoma to assess needs.

Jeff and Jamie Dugger, members of the Westhill Church of Christ in Cleburne, Texas, in their tornado-ravaged home in Cleburne, Texas (Photo by Bobby Ross Jr.)

Blogging from Cleburne, Texas

I was in Texas on Sunday reporting on tornado relief efforts in the Lone Star State when the first round of tornadoes hit my home state of Oklahoma.

In Texas, the Granbury Church of Christ and the Westhill Church of Christ in Cleburne are playing leading roles in relief efforts — with both congregations serving as hubs for volunteer and contractor registration as well as providing emergency food and supplies to victims.

Six people died in last Wednesday’s storm in Granbury, while 70 homes were destroyed in Cleburne, where city officials described it as miraculous that no one died.

Several Westhill families, including minister Jerry Nelson and his wife, Carolon, sustained severe damages to their homes. Members such as Jeff and Jamie Dugger say, however, that the outpouring of support by the church —and community — has affirmed their faith.

Tornado victims salvage what they can from a damaged home in Cleburne, Texas. (Photo by Bobby Ross Jr.)

The Dallas Morning News reported on Disaster Assistance CoC — still stationed in West, Texas, helping victims of the fertilizer plant explosion there — preparing 200 barbecue lunches and sending them to Cleburne.

KCBD television in Lubbock, Texas, reported on Granbury minister John Knox’s outreach to victims:

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Minister John Knox was at the Granbury Church of Christ, attending Wednesday night services, when the storm blew in. Once he heard the magnitude and destruction of the tornadoes, he knew immediately he would be deployed to help.

Knox, a Monterey High School graduate and 1984 Lubbock Christian University Alum, moved to Granbury back in 2004, where he began ministering at the Granbury Church of Christ. But his work for God didn’t stop there.

For the last 24 years, Knox has served as a law enforcement chaplain. He accompanies officers to tell families that their loved ones have passed away. As difficult as it may be, he was prepared to help during Wednesday’s storm.

“I assisted last night at the command center. At that point it was still a search and rescue process, so we didn’t know at what point we would start delivering the death notifications,” Knox said. “I got home about 2:30 this morning, slept about four hours and then went back out first thing this morning.”

The count came to six. Six families he would have to visit. Six families he would have to console as he told them their loved ones had not survived the tornadoes.

At the Granbury church, volunteers are distributing a tractor-trailer load full of food and supplies delivered by Nashville, Tenn.-based Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort.

Look for an expanded story on the Texas tornadoes in the next print edition of The Christian Chronicle.

Video captured by Jason Leger — before and after a May 20 tornado destroyed his home — has captured international media attention.

Leger, a graduate of Oklahoma Christian University, calmly says “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away” after opening the door to his storm shelter and surveying the damage.

After destroying homes in Newcastle, the tornado moved east into Moore, Okla., where it claimed at least 24 lives. (See our related post.)

Murray Evans, Oklahoma Christian University’s assistant athletic director for media relations, shared photos of the storm as it passed by his home in the southern part of the Oklahoma City metro.

The Moore tornado (Photo provided by Murray Evans)

Minister Bob Odle said agent Christopher Lorek, 41, and his family came to the congregation about six years ago:

“They are as solid as they come,” Odle said. “They were here every time the doors were open.”

Church members knew he had a high-risk job and was often out of town, but they didn’t know exactly what he did.

Lorek joined the FBI in 1996 and is survived by his wife and two daughters, ages 11 and 8, according to the report.

Read the full story.

Ben Glover, minister for the Oakcrest Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, discusses the church’s tornado relief efforts with Fox News.

See The Christian Chronicle’s expanded coverage.

Update, 9 a.m., May 21: Oklahoma’s medical examiner’s office has revised the death toll from a tornado in an Oklahoma City suburb to 24 people, including seven children. A spokeswoman said that some victims may have been counted twice in the early chaos of the storm, the Associated Press reports.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRx9is0HAvQ

Churches of Christ and associated disaster relief ministries are mobilizing forces after a massive tornado devastated the south Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, Okla., this afternoon.

Tornado damage in Moore, Okla. (Still from Associated Press video, courtesy David Massey)

The twister destroyed a school and has killed at least 24 people and left many more homeless, according to news reports.

Updates from congregations in the area:

• The Oakcrest Church of Christ in southwest Oklahoma City is giving shelter to storm victims. See a video of minister Ben Glover discussing the relief efforts.

• Members of the Memorial Road Church of Christ in northeast Oklahoma City met May 20 to begin the process of coordinating disaster relief.

• Disaster Assistance CoC, supported by Churches of Christ, is sending a representative to Moore May 21 to assess needs. The ministry continues to serve meals to volunteers and people in need in the disaster-hit Texas cities of West and Cleburne.

We will post updates as they become available.

To share new details or prayers, please comment below.

That’s the kind of afternoon many of us who attend the Memorial Road Church of Christ in Oklahoma City had Sunday, May 19.

A member of the Memorial Road Church of Christ in Oklahoma City shows the huge hail stones that fell near his home. (Photo provided)

About 4 p.m., tornado sirens blared and television reporters started naming the streets of our neighborhood in the path of a mesocyclone — a weather system likely to birth funnel clouds. Church members put bicycle helmets on their children and made the short drive to Oklahoma Christian University, where we gathered in a low-lying lecture hall and watched news reports. Meteorologists reported a tornado on the ground — just east of our homes.

The storm moved by quickly. As best we can tell, the funnel started to spin less than a mile northeast of campus. No injuries were reported among church members. Churches here are collecting damage reports and preparing to send relief teams.

That funnel expanded and headed northeast, smashing through the small town of Carney. Another massive tornado developed and destroyed homes in a trailer park north of Shawnee, Okla. The grandmother of a member of the Northridge Church of Christ lost her home, a spokeswoman for the church said. We’re following up on other damage reports.

Note: Tornado sirens went off as I was getting this post together. I wrote the final paragraphs while waiting out a storm in the same place I was yesterday (see below). A massive tornado has been reported in Moore, Okla., south of Oklahoma City. See our updated post about that storm.

Women in India's Nallamala forest raise their arms during a visit by evangelist Paul Subhan. (Photo provided)

Christians and fellow preachers placed garlands of fragrant, tropical flowers and brightly colored shawls around the neck of Paul Subhan, wishing the longtime minister well on his upcoming journey.

None of them realized, however, that this would be his final journey — or that they were saying goodbye for the last time.

Paul Subhan (Photo provided)

Subhan, who dedicated much of his adult life to spreading the Gospel in his native India, died May 15 of an apparent heart attack. He was 75.

He was scheduled to fly to the U.S. on May 22. There, he would spend three months visiting supporters and promoting Gospel for Muslims, the ministry he directed.

But on May 14 — two days after the sendoff service at the Chinnacumbum Church of Christ — Subhan fell ill. The minister for the Chinnacumbum church, Babu, rushed him to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed Subhan with high blood sugar. He seemed to improve, Babu said, but early the next morning he fell into a deep sleep and never awoke.

Subhan, who was born into a Muslim family, converted to Christianity and decided to become a minister. Trained by J.A. Johnson, a missionary in the city of Chennai, Subhan preached for a Church of Christ in Nandavaram in Andhra Pradesh — the Indian state with likely the greatest number of church members in the country. The McRae Church of Christ in Arkansas supported his work.

Though he named the ministry “Gospel for Muslims,” Subhan worked with numerous faith and ethnic groups — including some who lived in far-flung regions of India. Recently, he and a group of evangelists traveled to Nallamala, known as the Tiger Forest, to minister to indigenous people there.

“Over the past several months, I have had the opportunity to travel to many local churches associated with the GFM work to give the brethren encouragement and to fellowship with them,” he wrote in a newsletter after the trip. “It is a blessing to see how many of these local churches continue to grow in number and in maturity of faith as they persevere through hardship.”

Preceded in death by his wife, Subhan was the father of six daughters — all married. He had six grandsons and six granddaughters. The Gospel for Muslims ministry reached souls in 49 cities and villages in five of Andhra Pradesh’s districts, Babu said.

Jeff Cline, a church member in Arkansas who edited Subhan’s newsletter, sent a note of thanks to supporters of the work.

“Please keep his friends and family in your prayers,” Cline said. “Paul leaves a great legacy, as many of the ministers he equipped and trained continue to work in the field.”

On the island of Madagascar, a small group of Christian youths wants to tell the world about their friend, Andry — a strong-willed believer who needs kidney dialysis to live.

The youths all grew up at Betikara, a children’s home supported by Churches of Christ. Most were rescued from the streets of the island’s capital city, Antananarivo. Andry, now in his early 20s, grew up at the orphanage. He speaks four languages and ministers to new generations of orphans at the children’s home and church.

“I personally thank God for placing me here at Betikara, for he is the one who ensures and takes care of me,” one of the youths “raps,” in the Malagasy language, as he tells Andry’s story. “He always thinks of me in my need. Even if I am far away, he still died on the cross for me.”

Andry’s kidneys failed a few years ago. Now he relies on dialysis that costs nearly $30,000 per year. The orphanage’s staff seeks funds to continue dialysis as they consider options for long-term treatment, said Barry Rosie, a missionary in Madagascar and co-director of Betikara.

Andry and Ryan Jones at the Betikara home in Madagascar (Photo provided)

Church members Ryan and Dorris Jones have provided funds for continued dialysis and launched a “Please help Andry now” Facebook group and awareness campaign for Andry. The couple used to live in Geneva, Switzerland, where missionary Doyle Kee invited them on a mission trip to Madagascar. There they met Andry.

“Doris and I both feel that Andry’s story — along with the larger Betikara/Madagascar story — is very compelling,” said Ryan Jones. The couple now lives in Germany. Though glamorized by the “Madagascar” movies, people on the island struggle with poverty and related health issues.

So far, church members have raised enough money to fund Andry’s dialysis through September 17, 2013, according to the Facebook page.

The Church of Christ at Three Chopt Road in Richmond, Va., supports the orphanage and is collecting funds for Andry. For more information, or to donate, contact the church or contribute via PayPal through the Betikara Orphanage website.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OVlJDu8_fQ

All members of the Granbury Church of Christ in Texas survived Wednesday night’s killer storm unscathed.

Church leaders were working today to determine how best to respond to the community’s needs.

“We’ve gotten a lot of calls already,” Granbury administrative minister Chris Frizzell said of churches and disaster ministries offering their assistance.

Frizzell said he did not know of any members whose homes sustained major damages.

The tornado that claimed six lives and destroyed dozens of homes in North Texas is believed to have had winds up to 200 mph, The Associated Press reports.

Two hundred meals prepared by Disaster Assistance CoC, a mobile feeding ministry sponsored by the Lake Jackson Church of Christ in Texas, were on their way this morning to the Westhill Church of Christ in Cleburne, Texas, another community damaged by a tornado.

Disaster Assistance CoC director Mike Baumgartner reports that “many church members of Westhill CoC  had damage.” The Christian Chronicle is attempting to reach church leaders to verify that report and check on needs. Baumgartner remains on the scene of the West, Texas, fertilizer plant explosion.

If you know of Churches of Christ or members affected by the tornadoes, please leave a comment and specific details.