God's Hand at Work

“It was a great experience, it was a blessing. There were a lot of things involved, but it was God’s hand at work.” Steve Campbell’s report after his ten days working in Louisville, Kentucky with an Emergency Response Team (ERT) from Pennsylvania was enthusiastic both about the work completed and the blessing it was to be part of the crew.

Steve closed his eyes and shook his head, “It was amazing to see how much was accomplished” he added. Campbell was in Louisville for ten days.

Over the last month several ERT teams have traveled to various locations in Kentucky and helped local MDS volunteers in the clean up effort. Ice storms in January left much of the state without power and littered with downed trees and limbs. In some areas damage was severe enough to need heavy equipment. MDS volunteers Roger Claassen of Nebraska and Jim and Phil Eicher of Indiana arrived in southern Kentucky in early February bringing heavy equipment and volunteers. An ERT group from New York and another group from Pennsylvania worked in the Benton, Hopkinsville, Liberty, and Lincoln City areas.

The group Campbell led worked mainly in the Louisville area. Campbell reported that jobs they had in Louisville were smaller than the jobs further south. His groups were able to complete all the jobs they were assigned. Over 170 properties were cleaned up in the Louisville area alone.

Over the past several weeks many volunteers donated their time to help with the effort. Many partners worked together to make the response a success. Local churches provided lodging, volunteers provided vans and drivers, local VOAD groups coordinated the response with MDS Region and Unit leaders. Jerry Klassen, MDS Disaster Response Coordinator, spent time in Kentucky to assist with the logistics of the response. Klassen writes “I say Praise the Lord for all the partners who worked hard with the many different, all important pieces to bring this help to many folks.”