by Dr. Randy Tompkins
I was on staff of First Baptist Church, Jenks, Oklahoma, when authorities announced there was a possibility of a major flood on Saturday afternoon. We had just remodeled the worship center and had a new organ and a new grand piano, so I called some men to help me. In short order, we moved those instruments to the second floor. One of the men then stated his grandmother lived a couple of blocks away and would surely be flooded. Without hesitation, we took the pickups and trailers to her house and completely emptied all contents onto the trailers. A friend had a large barn just outside of town on top of a high bluff, so we put the household items in the barn. Before we stopped for the day, we had emptied 8 houses and carried the contents to the barn.
Our house was the last house to be emptied. As we were working to remove our belongings, I began to notice I did not know many of the people that were sacking up our belongings. I asked my wife who they were, and she didn’t know either. All of our material belongings went into strangers’ vehicles and they drove away.
The waters came but the town did not flood. The next day we returned the items to the church and houses. When we returned home, we took inventory. Not one item was lost. Everything we owned was returned to us.
The Bible has a story relating such friendship as we experienced those two days. Mark 2: 4 and Luke 5:18-19 tells the story of a paralyzed man being lowered through the roof of a house so he could be in the presence of Jesus.
In Christ’s Service,
Dr. Randy Tompkins
Interim Senior Adult Minister
Calvary Baptist Church
