Finishing Up in Midfield and Sapps Community

Over the past three weeks several CFC teams have been working in and finishing up our service commitments in West Birmingham's Midfield neighborhood (following the EF2 tornado that hit there on Christmas Day in 2015) and in the Sapps Community, northwest of Aliceville in Pickens County, where an EF2 tornado struck on February 2nd.

MIDFIELD The team in Midfield on February 9, working a total of 40 hours, consisted of (left to right; standing) Bob Thompson, Mark Martin, Ken Clements, (kneeling/sitting) Ray Miller and Jim Pressler.

We finished up 3 jobs in Midfield to conclude our work assignments there:

Job 2 - Before Job 2 - After

Job 2 - Before (alternate view) Job 2 - After (alternate view)

Job 3 - Before Job 3 - After

SAPPS COMMUNITY Several different teams worked for 5 days over three weeks in Sapps Community.  Although the commute time between Birmingham and Sapps Community was between 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours each way depending upon where each participant was departing from, the commute was made each day.  A total of 222-1/2 hours were committed by CFC volunteers over the 5 day work period in Pickens County. Day 2, February 8, volunteers consisted of Boyd Martin, Buddy Williams and Tim Smith.  Day 3, February 9, participants were Boyd Martin, Bob Suellentrop, Buddy Williams, Henry Averyt and Jason Cannon.  Day 4, February 10, volunteers were Alan Weeks, Boyd Martin and Buddy Williams.  (Unfortunately we do not have team photos of any of the first three participant groups in Sapps Community!)  Clean-up Day 5, February 23, participants consisted of (left to right; standing on the toppled tree) Jim Pressler, Kent Clements, (standing on the ground) Bob Thompson, John Calhoun, Boyd Martin, Buddy Williams, Tim Smith and John Boettner.

Of interest, the tree above (and shown "full sized" below; note the size of the humans in relation to the rest of the tree!) was reckoned by its owner, Mrs. Lois Bruce, to be more than 100 years old.  She recounted for us stories about the folks who owned the property before her playing as children under the shade of that tree.

Mrs. Bruce befriended our deployment teams in Sapps Community by home cooking wonderful lunches for us at the volunteer fire house.  We spent time on Day 4 helping to clear debris from her property although this downed tree will remain there as a souvenir of the tornado and a reminder that by God's grace not one life was lost in the storm that evening. Here are a few pictures (the aerial view from teammate Jason Cannon's drone) at the ground zero touchdown site of the tornado in Sapps Community on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.  The photos show the kind of damage experienced by property owners.  Some mobile homes were torn from their base frames and ended up lodged high in the trees in nearby woods!  And note the power of this tornado that even caused a chain link fence to lay down - which is all holes, of course; something that wind should just pass through! - by bending over the slender metal fence posts holding up the chain link.  We've never seen that before!

Immediately next door to Mrs. Bruce was property occupied by a 90-year old resident. His brother, Ronnie Cummings, served as his spokesman and thanked us profusely for moving accumulated debris some 500 yards from the piles near his home to the main street at the end of his long driveway.

Before After

Special thanks, of course, go out to our Asbury UMC skid steer partner, Abel, which contributed the heavy lifting we needed to help move Mr. Cummings' debris.

Many other property owners were served by CFC team members during our 4-day commitment to assist this community in rural Pickens County.  In Sapps Community it was our privilege to share the love and joy of Christ a bit farther from our normal home working territory and to help restore Hope in Jesus' name to those seeking the reassurance that He has not forsaken them.

In His Service, Bob Bob Thompson Cutters for Christ Disaster Response Ministry Deployment/Team Coordinator _________________________________________________________