Kyle residents Christopher and Kristina Bealand joined volunteers (above and bottom) who “treasured hunted” through donated items for victims of a devastating tornado in Joplin, Mo. (Below) The twister killed 120 people and leveled much of the city. The Bealands plan to return to help more. (Photo courtesy of Christopher Bealand)
by WES FERGUSON
Day after day, Christopher Bealand sat in his living room in Kyle with his head in his hands, watching the news on TV.
A string of tornados had ravaged the South. Then, on May 22, another tornado hit Joplin, Mo. It demolished whole swaths of the city, killing more than 120 people and leaving many more homeless.
“Oh my gosh,” Bealand remembers thinking, “this is horrible.”
The more he watched, the more he felt called to do something – anything – to help the victims. First Bealand thought he would hold a churchwide yard sale to raise money, but his pastor said no: The church would only be saddled with everyone else’s junk.
Then Bealand and his wife, Kristina, heard about three women from Martindale who had been in touch with a Christian school in Joplin. They and others were leaving on Wednesday evening to go help. The Bealands had never done anything like this before, but they jumped at the opportunity to go as well.
The team of volunteers met in Lockhart and drove through the night – a caravan of 27 people representing five area churches – bearing donations of clothing, food and water. Upon arrival they set up camp and went to work in a distribution warehouse.
Donated items were pouring in from around the world. It was chaos. The volunteers sorted through box after box, repackaging the clothing and other items.
To their surprise and disappointment, though, much of it was junk and had to be discarded. There was so much stained and torn clothing and worn-out housewares that organizers told the volunteers they were “treasure hunting” for any items that could be of actual benefit to Joplin residents.
After laboring for 2 1/2 days, the Central Texas group was eager to do more hands-on work. They agreed to leave the warehouse and go into the “heart of the tornado,” as Christopher called it.
As they drove through the streets of Joplin, they were awestruck by what they saw. “It literally looked like a bomb had exploded,” Christopher would later say.
Houses were reduced to foundations. Cars were flipped onto roofs. A large commercial truck was wrapped like tinfoil around a tree. As the volunteers drove through decimated neighborhoods, they saw one man sorting through the things in his front lawn.
The man’s name was Mazi. He had lived there for 27 years, in a house he had built himself. When the tornado hit, Mazi rushed his family to the bathroom and threw himself over his wife, two grown sons and daughter. He was nearly sucked out of the house, but his sons held onto his wrists even as his legs were being pulled into the vortex.
Eight seconds later, the tornado was gone. So was their home. The bathroom where the family had hunkered down was the only part of the house that remained standing.
Now, when the volunteers found him, Mazi was going through his things. It was a solemn time and very intimate. Everything that could be salvaged had already been laid out on his lawn, so there was not much the Bealands and other volunteers could do for him.
But as they talked to Mazi they realized he would be an ideal point of contact for future assistance. He’s a retired homebuilder and is affiliated with a home-improvement store. He understands the needs of his neighborhood. Mazi gave them his phone number and discussed plans to rebuild the neighborhood.
The Bealands and the other volunteers came home on Monday. This Sunday, Christopher is planning to give a presentation at his church, Harvest Community Church in Martindale, and four weeks from now, once the major cleanup is done, the Bealands are hoping to return to help Mazi and his neighbors.
“We see there’s a huge need,” Christopher said, “and we can’t just leave them like that.”
