Testimonies of God’s protection His people’s response

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

The tornadoes that ripped through Ottawa-area neighbourhoods left significant property damage, but also numerous testimonies of neighbourly compassion and God’s mercy. From stories of divine protection to the simple fact that there were no fatalities, God was at work and His people sprang into action, showing His love to the community.

In Nepean, Arlington Woods Free Methodist Church was directly in the path of one of the tornadoes. Their property was littered with fallen trees and the top third of their fellowship hall was ripped off. The destruction was very nearly a profound tragedy.

“Our family ministries pastor, Ben Spears, was actually in the building. There was supposed to be a youth function in there,” says Pastor Mike Hogeboom. “He had just walked into the basement when the door slammed behind him. Right after that, part of the roof came down.”

Spears would have been outside if the tornado had hit 10 seconds earlier, says Hogeboom’s wife Julie. Minutes before, Spears was in the fellowship hall, where the roof collapsed.

“The strength of the storm was such that it blew the sheeting, which is two-by-fours, it blew those 200 yards off the top of that building.”

The fellowship hall at Arlington Woods Church had the top of the roof ripped clean off. Photo courtesy of Arlington Woods.

Hogeboom says the support and encouragement they received was heartwarming. Within days they had 20 churches offer them space to hold their services. Fortunately he says they have extensive insurance and they expect to be fully covered.

With a group of volunteers, Hogeboom spent that Saturday clearing trees and debris from the church driveway and parking lot. Even faced with their own challenges, they quickly started looking for how to support their neighbourhood.

“The first day, we had our blinders on; our church is down, how are we going to get it up,” Julie says. “By the next day we were looking out to the community. We were just offering coffee we had made in our house and it started to snowball.”

Coffee and cookies became cold meals, then hot meals. A Sikh relief agency asked if they could run generators in the parking lot for community members to charge their phones. Soon the property became the go-to place for people who needed help or wanted to volunteer.

“People would go to the first responders and say, ‘We would like to volunteer.’ It wasn’t long before the police would say, ‘Go to Arlington Woods. They will tell you where to go.’ Part of the reason is that there was already trust and a good connection between Arlington Woods Church and the community.”

Community members gathered at Arlington Woods for food and drinks while the neighbourhood was cleaned up. Photo courtesy of Arlington Woods.

The storm actually boosted the church’s relationship with the community, Hogeboom says.

“I was walking in the community Sunday and everywhere we go there is such an openness to talk and have some form of spiritual conversation. The first Sunday we had an outdoor service. Out of 75 people there, about 15 were from the community.”

The church is now consulting with the community and their city councillor to better understand the current needs. They plan to use the experience to deepen their involvement and make their outreach more effective.

Reaching Craig Henry

Just east of Arlington Woods, Woodvale Pentecostal Church was largely spared the storm’s wrath. Yet, it was the storm’s timing that was most relieving to Lead Pastor Mark Scarr.

“We are grateful the tornado was not the night before. We had the Chris Tomlin concert with 2,000 people in our building. The tornado could have resulted in serious injury, if not casualties.”

Saturday morning, after the storm, they even had a pre-scheduled men’s work day planned.

“We had over 100 men lined up to go out and help our seniors and solo moms,” explains Scarr. “We started some of those jobs, but then we commissioned many of our people to go help the community.”

That Sunday, he says they didn’t have a service, but they still did church—going into the community again with meals and clean-up crews. Scarr says the church’s work has already born fruit in the community.

“They are so grateful. We have a neighbour who struggled when we put our parking lot in the hydro corridor. He was a little jaded toward church life. I didn’t even know, but teams wetn over and cleaned up his yard. Now he is telling all his neighbours that our church is great. Jesus is being lifted up in our neighbourhood.”

Helping Barrhaven

Barrhaven missed the brunt of the storm, but was without power for 48 hours. Several area churches took the opportunity to double down on serving different parts of the community.

“What we did on the Sunday morning is mobilize our people to host two pancake breakfasts at different housing developments we minister to on a regular basis,” says Pastor Ryan Dawson of Sequoia Church. “We have generators, grills, and gas cookers, so we just rolled in some of our equipment. It wasn’t just a Sunday-morning thing, many of our people were serving in Barrhaven the whole weekend.”

Dawson was also really encouraged to see community organizations and different churches working side by side to help those in need.

Responding in Dunrobin

The Tornado that hit Dunrobin was the strongest of the storm. The rural area had many houses completely leveled and farms severely damaged. The cleanup is under way, but will take considerable time.

“There has been a huge response for some of the immediate needs,” says Kiwanda Redner, who pastors The Oasis in Kinburn, with her husband Mark. “It is more the long term. People’s homes are still sitting waiting for insurance to assess. One farm lost three silos and the insurance will only cover the smallest silo.”

Redner has spent a lot of time volunteering in their community since the disaster and with Samaritan’s Purse. The Samaritan’s Purse team has so far recruited 600 volunteers. They have set up in the parking lot of the MET and are asking for volunteers every day except Sunday. Those wanting to help out can connect or donate through the Samaritan’s Purse webpage. Stevie Andrews, their point of contact at the MET, says they estimate the cleanup costs will exceed $100,000.

Sifting through the destruction in Dunrobin, Redner sees clear evidence of God at work.

“A lot of people were at the Carp Fair and the tornado completely missed the carp fair. Their homes were destroyed, but they weren’t home and their lives were saved. You can really see God’s hand in this, protecting people.”