THE SEVENTH PLAGUE
by Rev. David Splett
In Exodus 9, Moses stretches his staff toward heaven and the Lord sends thunder and lightning and hail upon Pharaoh and the land of Egypt. As the hail rains down, the Bible says, IT WAS THE WORST STORM IN ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT SINCE IT HAD BECOME A NATION (9:24). It may not have been for the same reason, but the citizens of Eldora and the area around got to experience their own worst hail storm in the history of Hardin County.
On August 9, as I was shaking hands following the worship service at 10:30 a.m., an unforcasted hail storm struck. Hail the size of tennis balls was blown along by 80 mph straightline winds. In 20 minutes, two inches of rain also came down. A few of the members had made it home, some were struck on their way, most were still at church. It wasn't a fun experience for anyone no matter where they were caught at the time.
When the storm had passed, the damage it left behind was incredible. Eldora is a town of 3000 people and almost every house and building in town lost windows and roofs and siding and had all sorts of other water and wind and hail damage inside. The estimate was 1500 vehicles with dents and smashed windows. Outside of town, corn which was ten feet tall was fortunate if it was ten inches tall. Sheds were blown down and corn bins were rolled across fields, hundreds of trees were shredded of all their leaves and needles. In reviewing the membership roster, approximately 80% of St. Paul's 500 members either had hail damage themselves or had family who needed assistance with clean-up. No lives were lost, however, in a great act of God's mercy!
As recovery began, help also arrived. Rev. Glenn Merritt and Rev. Carlos Hernandez of LC-MS World Relief and Human Care came to town with our new District President Rev. Brian Saunders and Rev. Dean Rothchild who co-ordinates disaster relief in our District. All four met with various members of St. Paul to hear their stories and find out their needs and offer the Lord's hope and encouragement. Pastors Merritt and Hernandez then met with various members of St. Paul to help them organize for assisting members and others in the community.
Using LC-MS World Relief's theme of "Mercy Forever", St. Paul's committee went to work. A priority was to show mercy to needy and uninsured folks by helping them take advantage of a State disaster program which reimburses people for certain repair bills they have paid. The challenge for many needy people was not having the funds to pay these bills and this is where the church helped. Monies from World Relief and IDE were combined with money St. Paul took out of an LCEF investment we had plus some of our first insurance check which we hadn't spent yet plus the local Ministerial Association funneled several thousand dollars into St. Paul's hail fund and other gifts came from individuals and other churches. Additionally, bedding and furniture also was donated and distributed. As the local newspaper noted, "All the area churches have played a role, but by some act of Providence and happenstance St. Paul Lutheran in Eldora has become storm recovery central in recent weeks." So far almost $25,000 has been used and close to 100 people aided.
The seventh plague in Exodus brought God's wrath to some but also His mercy to others. The members at St. Paul haven't been too concerned about the wrath part but they have seen and been part of an abundance of God's mercy. And more is coming. As people are being reimbursed, more funds are becoming available to help even more people put their homes back together. A guiding verse for the days to come is Galatians 6:9 where Paul writes, LET US NOT BECOME WEARY IN DOING GOOD, FOR AT THE PROPER TIME WE WILL REAP A HARVEST IF WE DO NOT GIVE UP. We will keep praying for the harvest and God's "Mercy Forever!" IDE
