It’s an unassuming, century-old, white-sided building at the corner of 12th Street and Wall Avenue in Joplin.
A map inside the front door offers the first clue that something out of the ordinary is taking place here. Stick pins indicate where volunteers have come from: Alaska, Canada and Southern California.
Above it are the words “The Body of Christ in Action, Romans 12:5.”
According to the building’s owner, Amy Ipsen, the verse is appropriate. Since August, disaster ministries and other charities under the direction of Lutheran, Baptist, United Methodist and other churches have shared this space in an ecumenical effort to help rebuild Joplin. Catholic Charities is looking at the possibility of putting some of its rebuilding and repair staff in the warehouse, according to executive director Maura Taylor.
Initial efforts by the different denominations began independently, sometimes miles apart, in church halls and mobile trailers, in the hours after the May 22 tornado.
“It was just get people here and put them to work,” said Ipsen, a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Her church and the nearby Martin Luther School at 26th Street and Connecticut Avenue, just at the edge of the storm’s path, served last summer as a command center that at one point served 500 to 700 people a day.
“It was a big operation, but when school started we had to move everything out, had to get rid of the supply and shower trailers,” Ipsen said. “We had to scale down, quit serving meals, close the relief store.”
Other denominations had similar stories after May 22, setting up temporary shop as quickly as they could in churches and schools, but soon needing something more permanent. When leaders of the respective denominations paused to take a breath and look around, they realized they were all doing the same things, working toward the same end. So if they were sharing goals and even volunteers, why not other resources, including space?
Ipsen and her husband, Bryan, a physician, purchased the 20,000-square-foot warehouse in an effort to put multiple faith-based groups under one roof, streamlining the recovery and rebuilding efforts.
“We knew we’d do this long term and needed a permanent location,” Amy Ipsen said.
“I think this is the way it is supposed to be. We’re all Christians, we’re all brothers and sisters in Christ, and to come together without question ... we’re all working for the same purpose. We have groups coming in, and whoever your group is, we pray with them on the job site. It doesn’t matter which group we’re working with. That makes us stronger.
“This is what needs to be done. The people of Joplin still need help.”
Tool Library
The warehouse had been home to a cabinet-making business since 1906, and although it had closed, it was full of industrial machines. Volunteers cleaned it out, auctioned some of the equipment and donated the rest to Franklin Technology Center, which was relocating and rebuilding after being destroyed by the storm. Volunteers built two secure rooms in the warehouse for a $150,000 tool-lending library, which was donated by DeWalt, an industrial tool company.
“When groups come to Joplin, that means not having to ship their own tools and equipment ahead of time or haul it with them,” Amy Ipsen said. “Homeowners trying to make repairs or rebuild can use it any time. It really has been a blessing to have all this right here.”
In a nearby office, some United Methodist women from St. Charles donated their time recently, processing paperwork for hundreds of volunteers and dozens of projects.
In a large open space at the far end of the building, Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity volunteers had recently framed out walls for two homes under construction.
The Fuller Center for Housing, a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry, had set up operations, as had Lutheran Disaster Response.
Spring River Baptist, Ignite Church and Grace Baptist frequently use the building and the resources.
Members of these groups share something in common: They spend longs days lining up projects, preparing estimates, securing permits, filling out credit applications for accounts with suppliers, fielding email and phone requests from volunteer groups, and sending those groups out to project sites fully equipped when they arrive.
A map inside the front door offers the first clue that something out of the ordinary is taking place here. Stick pins indicate where volunteers have come from: Alaska, Canada and Southern California.
Above it are the words “The Body of Christ in Action, Romans 12:5.”
According to the building’s owner, Amy Ipsen, the verse is appropriate. Since August, disaster ministries and other charities under the direction of Lutheran, Baptist, United Methodist and other churches have shared this space in an ecumenical effort to help rebuild Joplin. Catholic Charities is looking at the possibility of putting some of its rebuilding and repair staff in the warehouse, according to executive director Maura Taylor.
Initial efforts by the different denominations began independently, sometimes miles apart, in church halls and mobile trailers, in the hours after the May 22 tornado.
“It was just get people here and put them to work,” said Ipsen, a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Her church and the nearby Martin Luther School at 26th Street and Connecticut Avenue, just at the edge of the storm’s path, served last summer as a command center that at one point served 500 to 700 people a day.
“It was a big operation, but when school started we had to move everything out, had to get rid of the supply and shower trailers,” Ipsen said. “We had to scale down, quit serving meals, close the relief store.”
Other denominations had similar stories after May 22, setting up temporary shop as quickly as they could in churches and schools, but soon needing something more permanent. When leaders of the respective denominations paused to take a breath and look around, they realized they were all doing the same things, working toward the same end. So if they were sharing goals and even volunteers, why not other resources, including space?
Ipsen and her husband, Bryan, a physician, purchased the 20,000-square-foot warehouse in an effort to put multiple faith-based groups under one roof, streamlining the recovery and rebuilding efforts.
“We knew we’d do this long term and needed a permanent location,” Amy Ipsen said.
“I think this is the way it is supposed to be. We’re all Christians, we’re all brothers and sisters in Christ, and to come together without question ... we’re all working for the same purpose. We have groups coming in, and whoever your group is, we pray with them on the job site. It doesn’t matter which group we’re working with. That makes us stronger.
“This is what needs to be done. The people of Joplin still need help.”
Tool Library
The warehouse had been home to a cabinet-making business since 1906, and although it had closed, it was full of industrial machines. Volunteers cleaned it out, auctioned some of the equipment and donated the rest to Franklin Technology Center, which was relocating and rebuilding after being destroyed by the storm. Volunteers built two secure rooms in the warehouse for a $150,000 tool-lending library, which was donated by DeWalt, an industrial tool company.
“When groups come to Joplin, that means not having to ship their own tools and equipment ahead of time or haul it with them,” Amy Ipsen said. “Homeowners trying to make repairs or rebuild can use it any time. It really has been a blessing to have all this right here.”
In a nearby office, some United Methodist women from St. Charles donated their time recently, processing paperwork for hundreds of volunteers and dozens of projects.
In a large open space at the far end of the building, Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity volunteers had recently framed out walls for two homes under construction.
The Fuller Center for Housing, a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry, had set up operations, as had Lutheran Disaster Response.
Spring River Baptist, Ignite Church and Grace Baptist frequently use the building and the resources.
Members of these groups share something in common: They spend longs days lining up projects, preparing estimates, securing permits, filling out credit applications for accounts with suppliers, fielding email and phone requests from volunteer groups, and sending those groups out to project sites fully equipped when they arrive.
Hundreds of volunteers
Trent Davis, a Lutheran volunteer and Illinois native, is among those who call the warehouse home six days a week.
Immediately after the tornado, no one was asking where those who needed shelter and medical attention went to church, or what they believed, Davis said.
“We’ll leave the details of our doctrines to the theologians; we’ll concentrate on where we agree,” he said. “We all agree that Jesus Christ is the savior. We all agree that he wants us to be helping those who can’t help themselves. We’ll let the theologians worry about the details.”
In his office, walls are filled with calendars that stretch through the rest of this year, almost every week filled with the names of volunteer groups coming from all over the country. He anticipates that more than 1,300 volunteers will deploy to Joplin between now and September.
Davis was a remodeling and insurance restoration contractor for 20 years, so he brings a contractor’s perspective. He also had deployed with short-term mission teams around the world since 2003. Immanuel Lutheran Church hired him to direct its ministry’s rebuilding operations, which just recently became a nonprofit organization known as Transform Joplin. He moved to Joplin from Illinois with his wife and their two daughters two days before school started. Since then, Davis has deployed 900 volunteers for debris removal and repair projects.
“I came at this from both directions; I know what the teams need, and I know what the construction side is, and it seemed to be a perfect fit,” Davis said. “God is good. The fact that he has shaped me for this ... it certainly is good to know I am doing what he intended for me to do.”
Gauging progress
“ONE FAMILY AT A TIME, one house at a time — that’s how I’m gauging our progress,” said Trent Davis, a Lutheran volunteer. “I see this young lady out waiting for the bus in the tornado zone each morning on my way to work. A month ago, she was standing in the middle of a desolate field. This last week, I noticed she had someone else with her. I’m hoping that by next school year, she’ll have plenty of company. That’s my personal gauge on progress.”
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