Signal Mountain Baptist Church is assembling a team of 15 college-age youth and adults to travel to McDonald Chapel, Ala., to assist with tornado disaster relief work. The group will work from July 28-31.
Located near Birmingham, the McDonald Chapel community was devastated by violent tornadoes in 1956, 1998 and 2011.
"The McDonald Chapel area was hit hard by the tornadoes," said Signal Mountain Baptist minister of education and missions Sally Ensley. "Eighty homes were damaged and about half still need work. We will go with a national organization, Volunteers of America, that will line up work for us. We will work on cleanup and repairs in the community."
She added that McDonald Chapel was a poor community to start with, so the tornado aftermath has made things more challenging.
While there, she said the team will sleep on cots in a church gym and use a shower trailer.
Signal Mountain Baptist mission teams have already assisted Apison and Catoosa County residents in tornado relief. Ensley said she would like to continue local tornado relief work too.
"I've seen firsthand devastation and know that anything we can do helps," said Ensley. "My parents' home was hit by a tornado and a tree knocked a hole in their roof. They got in the closet. It's bad enough that people lose their homes and things important to them, but the emotional impact is strong. Hopefully, we can reach out and help with emotional and spiritual needs too."
Ensley said the McDonald Chapel mission will be the third mission trip of the summer for several of the team members going. Signal Mountain Baptist also took teams to West Virginia and Kentucky on recent missions.
"I'm looking forward to it," said SMBC intern Tim Hatch of his plans to go to McDonald Chapel. "I don't think I can get through a year without going on a mission trip. This will be my fourth mission trip this summer. I've been on 22 mission trips total."