Iglesia Ni Cristo reaches out to tornado-ravaged Mayfield, Kentucky
By LESLIE ESGUERRA and MARK ANDRO MILAN
Date Posted: January 13, 2022
In the aftermath of the tornado that hit Mayfield, Kentucky, USA, the Administration of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) instructed the leadership of the Ecclesiastical District of Northern Midwest to send help to those affected.
A delegation from the district immediately conducted an Aid to Humanity outreach activity on December 28, 2021 at the Mayfield-Graves County Fairgrounds.
“On the evening of December 10th [2021], our city was right in the direct path of an EF4 tornado that devastated nearly everything in its path for two hundred miles; … two specific residential areas [were hit] extremely hard as well as our entire downtown,” said Mayor Kathy S. O’Nan of Mayfield, Graves County, Kentucky, United States. An EF4 tornado has wind speeds between 166 mph and 200 mph.
Nathan Kent, Chief of Police, also recounted, “A very strong tornado ... on the ground all the way from Arkansas through Tennessee and up into Kentucky ... and so a significant fraction of our residential housing has been affected, some of it completely destroyed and ... all of our government buildings were impacted as well. We’ve got so many people that are displaced from their homes and will be for quite a while. Some families have lost everything.”
Present during the turn-over ceremony of the donations, Chief Kent, said, “The rebuilding process here’s going take many months, so these goods just provide for the basic needs of our citizens.”
In addition to relief packages for the individual recipients, a $10,000 donation check from the Church Of Christ was presented to the Mayor of Mayfield, Kentucky for further necessary funding through the Mayfield-Graves County Tornado Relief Fund, Inc. as the community recovers.
On behalf of Mayfield, Kentucky residents, Mayor Kathy said, “We are so grateful to everyone, especially your Church, who came running to us with arms open wide ... bringing the goods and money. ... I think the people that this money will go to ... they won’t have to ask. We’ll be there ready to give it to them, to help them restore their lives. Thank you so much Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) and the Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo Manalo. Your gifts are beyond measure.” —With reports from INC News Section