On December 9, 2023, amid a terrible tragedy, an EF-3 tornado with 150 mph winds left a path of destruction that was 600 yards wide and 11.33 miles long. People across our county came together to make an incredible difference. I am blessed to live in such an amazing community!
Mosaic Church, where I am a staff pastor, ended up being the epicenter of the Tornado Relief as emergency services, including police, fire, EMS, and all first responders, staged out of our church the day the tornado touched the ground. This was through our staff in the middle of the relief efforts, as everything was operating out of the church. Naturally, that placed our staff in a position of leadership as the local city and county governments were encouraging all volunteers to go to Mosaic Church.
In a moment, I found myself, along with many others on our staff, leading an emergency plan that we did not have and organizing what would become around 3,500 volunteers in an effort to remove debris and clean up areas that were in the path of destruction.
The senior pastor of Mosaic Church said it best, “If you would have asked me Saturday that by the beginning of next week if you could organize over a million dollars of resources and over three thousand volunteers – I would have told you – that’s impossible! This week has been the best message we’ve ever preached.”
Now that the dust has settled and the initial “wave” of relief is over, we are still working with Samaritan’s Purse to finish long-term muck and debris removal and will ultimately transition into rebuilding and helping those directly affected by this natural disaster.
Here are a few news articles written about this since the tornado struck the ground:
https://www.newschannel5.com/news/tornado-ravaged-clarksville-experiences-a-volunteer-invasion