Local church sends volunteers to Amory to help with tornado clean up

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - Not long after tornados swept through northern Mississippi leaving behind miles of damage, Pine Belt churches began coming together to help rebuild what was lost.

One of those lending a hand is Venture Church in Hattiesburg, which has volunteers headed to Amory, Miss.

“Amory is about 45 minutes from where I grew up,” Venture Church Lead Pastor Jeff Clark said.

With streets of rubble left in the wake of the tornado, Clark said it’s important to have people present in the cities affected.

“You know, one of the things in Amory that we’ve learned in all the tornadoes we’ve had in Mississippi is that we need people who are skilled, who can use a chainsaw, who have trucks, who have heavy equipment,” Clark said. “And the guys that are going there are gifted in that.”

Matthew Tucker is a Venture Church volunteer and will be among two groups across various local churches, who will head to the destruction on Friday.

“Yes, we intend to tarp roofs, cut trees, pass out food and water, but I think the most valuable piece of the equation is to be there for these people, period,” said Tucker. “Knowing someone cares can be enough to lift the spirits of someone devastated by complete loss.”

With around 20 volunteers, Clark says this is just one example that represents the importance of coming together to help those in need.

“We felt like it’s really important not just to send money, which we are doing, and supplies, which we are doing, but to have people on the ground that are shoulder to shoulder with the people (who) are in Amory, Mississippi,” Clark said.

Venture Church is also hosting its “Love Your Neighbor” week in an effort to encourage its five campuses throughout South Mississippi to go out and meet the needs of others in the community.

“One thing, ‘Love Your Neighbor,’ does is it touches people all over South Mississippi,” Tucker said. “We have had over 20 projects where are people our going out in the community and that is really important,” said Tucker “And Amory, sending our team there is just an extension of who we are as a church.”

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