Video: Smithville Baptist Helps Moore, Oklahoma

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SMITHVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – There’s nothing in nature more powerful than an EF-5 tornado.

It’s difficult to imagine the destructive force, unless you’ve seen with your own eyes.

The people of Smithville have.

So have the residents of Moore, Oklahoma.

Recently members of Smithville Baptist Church completed a mission to Moore, to help out any way they could.

The destruction left in the wake of an EF-5 tornado is unmistakable.

People in Smithville know it all too well. So who better to help our neighbors in Moore, Oklahoma?

Pastor Wes White of Smithville Baptist Church recently led a group of about 30 local people for a three day mission to Moore.

Pastor White remembers, ” We cut off trees and ran chainsaws, picked up debris, raked yards, gutted houses, just did anything we could to help them out.”

The reception was unbelievable. Folks in Moore quickly bonded with their visitors from Mississippi.

Pastor White explains, ” First off, as soon as they found out that we had gone through what they had gone through, it gave us an instant rapport. We were able to just talk on a heart level, that a lot of people don’t quite understand.  The level of devastation is beyond what you can imagine. It’s the equivalent of what happened in our community, but on a 20 mile long path. ”

Smithville residents also helped with tupperware tubs full of necessities like toilet paper, gift cards were also a big hit. Cleaning up after the storm will take years, but things are getting a little better day by day.

Pastor White explains, ” I think, in that moment, where our stories and their stories met, I believe healing began to take place. I think we were more blessed than they were in Moore, Oklahoma. We came back feeling like for a moment, we had made an impact in these people’s lives, and I think that touched us, more than we possibly could have touched them.”

And as the Smithville Baptist Congregation prepares to move into their beautiful new church, they’ll never forget the friends they made two states away.
Pastor White the people of Smithville Baptist plan to make additional trips to Moore as needed.

Categories: Local News

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