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PHOTOS TO THE SIDE AND BELOW CLICK ON THUMBNAIL TO ENLARGE PHOTO Here are some photo's I took in the Oklahoma City area while working for The Salvation Army Disaster Services. I arrived in the Oklahoma City Area at 2:00am on Monday, May 4th, only a few hours after the storm hit with a Salvation Army Disaster Canteen. The areas our unit worked at included (but Army service was not limited to) Moore, Oklahoma City, Dell City, and Mullin,OK. There were also services offered in Bridgecreek, Stroud, Tulsa, and Sapulpa, OK. The Salvation Army assisted by serving food and beverages to emergency personnel and survivors of the tornadoes. Salvation Army personnel also provided fixed-site feedings at the Emergency Operations Center in Oklahoma City. Three Salvation Army facilities sheltered displaced residents, and blankets, bottled water and other necessities also are being distributed. Canteens were called to service from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. Volunteers and Army Personnel reported to Oklahoma City to help from all over the Southern United States. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) was on site and was a real help in our efforts. Some of those helping with communications were not affiliated with The Salvation Army at all, but as HAM operators, decided that they would try to offer any help they could with their hobby and skills. SATERN established a amateur radio net around Oklahoma City and provided communications for The Salvation Army units. This was invaluable as cell towers where either blown away or over run by emergency services personnel trying to get through. In fact, regular "wired" telephone service was shaky at best for the first few days following the tornado. SATERN accepted requests via the Internet for information about health and welfare of loved ones in the Oklahoma City area, and volunteered their vehicles to run supplies to canteens. As of May 7, 1999, Salvation Army relief workers had assisted more than 13,000 people, served more than 7,000 meals and distributed over 11,000 beverages. Twenty-four mobile canteens roamed devastated neighbourhoods to provide food, beverages and snacks for emergency workers and homeowners. In addition, two warehouses opened to distribute necessities primarily collected by communities near the devastation. Work carries on even now (June 13, 1999). I would like to share an encounter I had during my first "tour" in Oklahoma City (May 3 - May 17) which I believe provides the greatest reason why I and The Salvation Army respond to such disasters and offer service. I was in my canteen roaming a devastated neighborhood in Dell City, serving victims who where rummaging through the rubble, and workers who were trying to repair those houses spared by total destruction. I happened upon a man who sat on the curb in front of his property (I would say house, but the house had been totally blown away from the foundation. Nothing remained but the foundation.) I came up to him, put my arm around him. He told me, "It is not fair. There is just no hope for the future." I was able to share some time with that gentleman. He talked, I listened. We prayed together. He accepted Christ into his life, and found that there is hope for the future! God has given me the greatest opportunity in the world to minister to people who need it right there and now. Thank God that more people were not killed. Looking around me in places like Moore, it was unbelievable that more people where not killed. I could share the stories that numerous victims shared with me of how the only room left standing in their house was the closet or bathroom they huddled, praying in. GOD IS PRESENT IN OUR TIMES OF NEED. He did not send these tornados upon Oklahoma. He created a perfect world that was ruined when man sinned. One day, Jesus Christ will restore that perfect world, but until then, we must trust in Him, and take his message of peace and hope to those who do not know it. If your would like to volunteer with The Salvation Army in disaster services or in another capacity, I encourage you to contact you local unit. In the United States you can find your local unit by going to USA National Headquarters web site or in other countries by visiting the International Headquarters web site. If you have any difficulty, please feel free to e-mail me. All photo's below are marked for the area they were taken in except those marked 52499xx.jpg. Those pictures where all taken in the Bridge Creek, Oklahoma area. God bless...Lt. David B. Gilliam
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