A SABBATH LIKE NO OTHER

BY W. DERRICK LEA

Friday, March 24, 2023, was a typical Southern spring afternoon, with temperatures in the upper 70s. One of our Adventist Community Services (ACS) volunteers* usually leaves work a little early in preparation for the coming Sabbath. This week was no different; however, the volunteer’s wife had invited some church members over for Sabbath dinner and he looked forward to the meal he knew she was preparing that afternoon. Upon his arrival, after greeting his wife, she rushed him out of the house to do yard work so she could focus on the Sabbath dinner preparation.

Later that evening, the couple brought in the Sabbath together in their living room. The volunteer truly enjoyed the solitude of home and the promised rest after a full week of work. The clouds had turned the evening dark earlier than expected, but his yard work was already completed, and he enjoyed hearing the rain, which was falling in spurts. They both went to sleep with the expectation of an early morning Sabbath School class that he was to teach. But at 3:00 a.m., the volunteer received an unexpected call. His ACS director was on the phone, asking if the volunteer could travel to Mississippi to help a community that had been decimated by a tornado earlier that evening. He looked out his window and saw a little rain coming down, but it was nowhere near the intensity of ravaging rains and winds necessary for a damaging storm. As he continued talking to his ACS leader, the volunteer was informed that two or three cities in Mississippi were destroyed, and it appeared that one of our Adventist churches had completely blown away.

After the call, he spoke with his wife who was now wide awake as well, informing her of the terrible news of death and destruction that had occurred earlier the night before as morning was breaking. He shared that ACS was asking if he could travel to Armory, Mississippi to assist with distribution efforts that were being planned later that morning. As they considered these changes, they discussed the Sabbath School class and dinner planned for later that day. They both decided that this emergency took priority. They identified others to fill in for their church obligations and made the necessary calls.

With this plan of action in place, they rushed off to Amory, 150 miles away. They arrived around 10:00 a.m. As they drove through the city, they viewed damaged homes, businesses, and debris everywhere. They had previously attended the West Amory Seventh-day Adventist Church and thought it would be the distribution site. However, when they drove past the church, they saw that the building itself was no longer there.

They received a call to meet down the street where ACS volunteers had congregated. The team in place was setting up a distribution site so community members would be able to receive water, nonperishable food items, diapers for babies, and other emergency items that had been carefully stored for this type of event. By 11:00 a.m., everything was in place and ready for distribution to the community. ACS had gotten word out and people started lining up to receive these goods. This distribution went into the afternoon and 296 families were able to take advantage of their work. There were also 50 ACS volunteers from the South Central Conference joining in to help. While this might not have been a Sabbath any of the ACS volunteers had planned the day before, they truly contributed in a manner commensurate with the call for us to serve. Sometimes the provision of service may occur at the most uncomfortable times. The work itself may even be uncomfortable. But based on the smiles and the hugs received, and the prayers with neighbors given, without a doubt those members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who served that day were acting as the hands and feet of Jesus. They made a major impact on that beautiful Sabbath day. t