2025 Gallery

May 2025 Missouri Tornado Deployment:

Over the course of 28 relentless days in North St. Louis—where an unsuspected EF-3 tornado tore through neighborhoods in May 2025—I logged over fifty work sites, chainsaw in hand, alongside my Christ in Action Disaster Relief teammates. At first light, you’d find me slicing through fallen oaks that pinned cars and porches, then stepping inside homes gutted down to studs and floor joists. We removed saturated drywall, ripped up ruined carpet, and cleared every splintered board and broken sheet of plywood, all to halt mold and ready each space for eventual rebuild.

In back-to-back shifts under scorching afternoon skies, I helped sift hundreds of pounds of debris—salvaging family heirlooms and shelving out stacks of hand-crafted bricks straight from fallen exterior walls. Carefully, we piled those bricks into neat piles, knowing they’d live again in new foundations. When heavy equipment clawed through collapsed garages and uprooted tree trunks, I was on the ground beside the operator, calling tight clearances so bucket teeth didn’t nick live power lines.

Our work wasn’t just physical. In living rooms stripped bare, survivors gathered on folding chairs, eyes rimmed with shock. I paused mid-saw stroke to offer a listening ear, share a prayer, or simply sit in silence with them under makeshift shade. These moments of human connection—soft words and shared tears—were as vital as every board we removed.

When dusk fell and the streetlights flickered on, I reflected on 50 houses reclaimed from chaos, on neighbors who’d once felt abandoned, now clasping hands over fresh coffee and hope. Every chainsaw roar, every brick saved, every prayer whispered in ruined kitchens was a step toward rebuilding not just walls, but lives.

Missouri March 2025 Tornado Deployment

East Kentucky March 2025 Flood Deployment