Update on Tornado Destruction
Pastor Troy D. Bohn
Feb 5, 2007

Mark 4:37-39 “And there arose a great storm of wind...and they said to Him, Master, do you care if we perish? And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said... Peace, be still and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

We finished loading the trailer and van at about 3:30 AM on Saturday morning before getting up and heading to Lady Lake, Florida about four hours later. Food, clothing, chainsaws, a generator, filled propane bottles, and enough food to feed a good meal to 150 people filled our vehicle.

Praying for the van, we just decided to “drive by faith…and not by the strange sound” that was coming out from under the hood! We had a plan: “Get as close to the disaster site as possible and if it breaks down, have AAA tow us the rest of the way.” It sounded like a good plan to us! (Praise God we didn’t have to go with that plan though!)

Arriving in Lady Lake, we went to the Lady Lake Church of God that had been totally demolished by the tornado. What was once a hurricane evacuation center built to withstand 150 mph sustained winds was now reduced to a pile of rubble surrounded by news trucks, relief teams, and church members still working to salvage whatever looked to be recyclable.

Within a few minutes we had a group of church members around us, including the visiting missionary who had just concluded three nights of revival the day before the storm struck. We shared our experiences in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and how it presented a tremendous opportunity to reap a great harvest of souls.

The group got excited and an impromptu praise service broke out as each declared, “If this is what it takes to get us from out of the four walls and into the community. Then so be it!” The building was a shambles, but the Church seemed to be doing fine!

We gave one of the chainsaws to a man working to clear the lot of fallen trees and gave our number to the worship pastor to notify us of anything that we could do for them in the future and then we headed for a trailer park about ½ mile away that sustained catastrophic damage.

Rounding the corner of the stand of trees it look like a war zone: cars, motor homes, recreational vehicles, and trailer houses were strewn about like a messy kids room. Trees lay atop one another like pick-up-sticks and litter and debris cluttered ever spec of ground.

We drove down into the midst of the mayhem and unloaded several chainsaws from the trailer. Men were busy trying to uncover the remnants of imploded houses and unrecognizable mobile homes. They were so thankful to have something to cut through the timbers that kept them from reaching the remnants of personal effects, keepsakes, and family albums.

I met “Bill” standing on what was once a covered porch adjacent to a now barren trailer house floor. A large gash had been stitched up along the left side of his face and his eye was still nearly closed as a result of the swelling. He, his wife and child had been awakened by the freight trail like roar of the F-3 tornado and desperately sought refuge in the front bedroom of the house.

The bedroom was now gone. The whole house was now gone. All that remained were pieces of splintered wood, debris and the floor in which he and his family pressed against to survive nature’s deadly onslaught. It was truly a miracle that they survived at all. Their vehicle just beyond the bedroom wall had a neighbors pickup truck and trailer deposited upon the hood and a Cushman vehicle tumbled into the two of them as if to complete the trifecta. All of them were totaled.

I prayed with Bill and gave him the Word of God, and some new shirts and a couple of pair of shorts to wear as well before making my way towards the next pile of rubble.

Bob, his wife and three children were sifting through the remains of their home when I stepped up on the foundation of the trailer and asked if they could use a chainsaw to cut through the trees. “You’re gonna let me borrow your?”, Bob asked. “No, I am going to give this one to you so you’ll have your own.”

He described to me how his two daughters rushed into his bedroom as the storm came through and he had them all get on the floor before laying across them to shield them from any flying debris. He said it was if a vacuum was trying to suck them out from under him. “Everything around us was vanishing. All I had to hold on to was the carpet that we were on top of.” Within minutes they looked up to find that the room—the whole house—had vanished along with the twister.

“We just didn’t lose our home. We also lost our livelihood,” he said pointing to a crushed van in the front yard. “I am self employed as a repair man and that is what I used to go to work. I thought our other van might have been okay, but it was t-boned by a tree as well.”

Sure enough, both vans were crushed like soup cans. This was a family that had very little to begin with, and now they had absolutely nothing. I prayed for him and told him that I was believing that God would provide them another vehicle very soon to help him get back to work and them back on their feet.

The prayer was answered quicker than either of us expected as the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said, “Give him you van.” It didn’t stop there, “And give him the money to fix whatever is wrong with it too.” He was elated at the news, as were Melanie and I to have the chance to obey the voice of the Lord and give out of our need. God is good!

Leaving Lady Lake we made the 20 mile drive to the east towards Paisley and Lack Mack, Florida. This was the area which suffered the greatest loss of life. Thirteen residents (mostly elderly) were killed as the storm passed through their trailer park. A father, mother and fifteen year old son also lost their lives in this small rural town in Central Florida.

We stopped by the First Baptist Church which was now serving as a shelter, command center, and Red Cross location to see if they had any specific needs that we could meet. One of the men pointed us towards what would be considered “ground zero” of the storm just eight miles down the road.

We went to the makeshift cook tent that had been erected next to the small volunteer fire department and unloaded all the food, drinks, and propane bottles that they could use. We were also able to talk and minister to a woman who lost a close friend to the disaster. Afterwards we headed to Deland, Florida to check on our friend who lives alone there to see how she was and if she needed anything. She was fine as the storm struck on the opposite side of town from her trailer park.

Thank all of you who gave to purchase the items that we took to the various communities. We will continue to make runs with supplies this week as resources come available. Cash, gift cards and a helping hand are the main practical things needed at this point.

There is such a need for pastoral ministry and counseling in these situations as well. I plan on going and assessing the spiritual needs of the people (especially the elderly that were so hard hit) and an idea came to me.

Many of the homes were totally destroyed and there is not a shred of anything to be salvaged. I have found some large “family Bibles” that we can get for $20 each that we’ll be taking to families. Many people keep family Bibles as a means to record weddings, births, deaths, etc.. and as a keepsake to pass along to their children. We felt that it could serve as a new beginning to take a new Bible to every family that we can over the next few weeks.

If you would like to sponsor a Bible (or several) you can send $20 each (and please include a personal note that we can put with it).

Thank you all so much for you love, prayers and support. On top of all of this, we are gearing up to head to New Orleans next week for our 11^th annual Mardi Gras Outreach. We still need sponsors for several of our Urban Missionaries as well. The cost to sponsor a missionary is $165 to cover their places to stay, meals, and transportation.

Blessings,

Pastor Troy D. Bohn

Raven Ministries

P.O. Box 1897

Daytona Beach, FL 32115

386.682.4141

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DEVOTIONAL FROM PASTRO TROY:

HIGHER STANDARDS
“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”
Isaiah 59:19

In the town square of Donetsk, Ukraine stands a tall bronzed statue symbolizing this communities greatest and most decorated hero. The statue is not that of Lenin, Stalin or some other Soviet-Union era architect of Communism, but instead of a track and field athlete who “set the pole” higher for himself, a generation of vaulters, and more importantly for a people who had suffered the oppression of their occupiers for a decades.

The statue dominating the central business district of this community is that of Ukrainian-Born pole-vaulter and world-record holder, Sergei Bubka. The base of this bronze memorial sits 20 feet 1 3/4 inches off of the ground below; a number equal to the world record that he established.

This 8-time gold medal winner (including six World Championships) set and established world records 35 times during his career—most of the records that he broke were his own! Utilizing a technique that would later be called by his name, Bubka utilized world-class sprinter’s speed to attack the launch pad unlike any of his competitors.

His rivals would typically rely on “planting” their pole in the launch pad and exerting the maximum amount of force in the initial “bend” of the pole before they ever left the ground. This technique, sought to flex the pole downward and then to “ride the force” of the pole to the height of the cross bar that was set before them. While this would certainly “elevate” the vaulter above the ground—because all the energy of the vault was exerted at the initial point of contact, the vaulter could only “hope” that his momentum would somehow get him over the bar.

Bubka developed a technique that was far different that his competition and obviously produces greater results. His approach to the launch pad was lightning quick, but instead of relying on a lighter, more flexible pole—he chose a heavier pole and gripped it at a much high position than his rivals. This allowed for a couple of things:

First of all, instead of just relying upon the momentum of the initial “push” to carry him over the bar, the heavier pole allowed him to plant and then continue to generate constant momentum throughout his rise towards the cross bar.

Secondly, his higher grip would allow him to press at the last minute to achieve levels that others could only watch and see him achieve. (It obviously worked, seeing that he is the only valuter to ever clear over twenty feet).

Most Christians today prefer the first method—lighter pole (less responsibility), give all your efforts at the beginning (conversion) and hope to ride out the momentum to the end of the jump, and flexibility (compromise) but never becoming a spiritual Record-Breakers.

I believe that the Holy Spirit is calling us to pick up a heavier pole (greater responsibility to reach the world) and generate power throughout our spiritual jump so that we will not just be competitors, but VICTORS. Let’s press towards the mark of the high calling!

Pastor Troy D. Bohn– Raven Int’l