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During General Conference Session Adventist Community Services and impact! st. louis Team Help Support Recovering Tornado Victims

July 12, 2025 | St. Louis, Mo. | John Simon

group of volunteers pray before helping St. Louis residents in community service — North American Division president G. Alexander Bryant gathers with ACS leaders and youth volunteers to pray for the tornado relief efforts in his hometown, St. Louis, Missouri. Photo: Caleb Durant/Iowa-Missouri Conference/Mid-America Union, for North American Division

One cannot drive to the St. Louis Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church without passing way too many somber displays of the havoc wreaked by the May 16 tornado. The proximity is close, but the contrast is stark … fortunately. The toppled trees and residential rubble evoke a sense of despair, yet the church stands as a bastion of hope.

Multiple levels of Adventist Community Services are joining forces with impact! st. louis, an initiative of the General Conference Youth Ministries department, to offer some relief to those still wrestling with the ramifications of the twister. The Spanish church has been set up as a distribution center for food and other essential items. This and other community service efforts are running concurrent with the 62nd GC Session taking place downtown on July 3-12, 2025.

Division Orchestrates Harmony

W. Derrick Lea, executive director of ACS for the North American Division, provided some details regarding planning and implementation, emphasizing the extensive team dynamic.

“When [the tornado] took place, we got in contact with our [Mid-America] Union … and we knew that that included two conferences, Central States and Iowa-Missouri,” said Lea. “And it was through those conversations that we started having on a daily basis that we came up with a plan of action for how were we going to be of support to this community.”

Communication chains developed beyond church entities. “We were able to be in contact with both our leadership and also the city leadership here in St. Louis,” Lea stated, “and it was through those conversations that we ended up placing two individuals in … the Emergency Operations Command.”

ACS youth volunteers get the food inventory in order in preparation for tornado victims stopping by to attain some much-needed essentials. — Adventist Community Services youth volunteers get the food inventory in order in preparation for tornado victims stopping by to attain some much-needed essentials. Photo: Caleb Durant/Iowa-Missouri Conference/Mid-America Union, for North American Division

This personnel delegation established a scouting base. “That gave us an opportunity to get current information on a daily basis as to what was happening in the city, what resources were here,” Lea said, “and we tried to figure out what gap in service was there that we could help serve. This eventually got us to bring a management team to set up a warehouse.” The warehouse supplies the distribution center.

Lea indicated that modes of effecting public awareness of this service included web-based promotion and connecting with community influencers. The dozen-plus young people and the leaders operating the goods distribution circulated flyers throughout many of the nearby neighborhoods, and this opened the door to engage in positive dialogue with several St. Louis residents.

W. Derrick Lea, NAD ACS director, and Tyrone Douglas, Mid-America Union ACS director, make the most of a quiet moment before the tornado relief goods distribution gets into full swing. Photo: Caleb Durant/Iowa-Missouri Conference/Mid-America Union, for North American Division

Union Contributes to Unity

Tyrone Douglas, director of ACS as well as Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the Mid-America Union, corroborated much of Lea’s input. He alluded to the prospect of the partnership between ACS and impact! st. louis manifesting itself in a different way, but emergencies often cause pivots.

“We were going to be working with a project for impact! st. louis. Of course, unforeseen, the tornado swept through,” Douglas mentioned. “[My role] gave me an opportunity to weave these two together at this time.”

Douglas verified that the goods distribution and overall relief efforts will continue weeks after GC Session concludes.

ACS leaders and youth volunteers hang up a "Community Distribution Center" banner on the side of the St. Louis Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church so residents can find it easily. — ACS leaders and youth volunteers, along with Mid-America Union communication director Hugh Davis, hang up a "Community Distribution Center" banner on the side of the St. Louis Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church so residents can find it easily. *Photo: Caleb Durant/Iowa-Missouri Conference/Mid-America Union, for North American Division*

Youth Perspective

“Mara” and several of her fellow seniors from Sunnydale Adventist Academy comprise a significant portion of the crew. She unpacked how Sunnydale became involved.

“A couple weeks ago, our chaplain of our school, Miss [Victoria] Tobing texted us in a group chat and asked if any of us were willing to give up some time for about four weeks to volunteer at the ACS Disaster Warehouse,” Mara shared. “She said we would be working from 8 [a.m.] to 5 [p.m.] every day, just we would have Fridays off and Sabbaths, of course.”

Mara admitted initial hesitancy, as high school students naturally want to soak up the summer break. Notwithstanding, she recognized and embraced the opportunity to serve the Lord — and her home town — in such a loving, sacrificial capacity.

ADRA in the Ready

Imad Madanat, vice president for Humanitarian Affairs at the Adventist Development Relief Agency, visited the distribution center. He expressed ADRA’s support of ACS and the alacrity to dive in as needed.

“We have an ongoing good relationship with Mr. Derrick Lea at the division,” said Madanat. “And whenever we have a major incident or major disaster in the U.S., we call them up and say, “Hey, can we give you any search capacity? Can we help?”

Madanat observed the youth and leaders conduct a dry run of the distribution operations. He was encouraged by their preparedness and fluidity.

“The U.S. has been facing a lot of disasters lately,” Madanat exclaimed, “and we just want to be able to, as a church united in mission, to come together and scale up the response anywhere needed.”

ACS youth volunteers demonstrate the joys of service and teamwork. — ACS youth volunteers demonstrate the joys of service and teamwork at the assist in a community project in St. Louis, Missouri, during the GC's impact! st. louis event. Photo: Caleb Durant/Iowa-Missouri Conference/Mid-America Union, for North American Division

Challenge Issued

Lea has a message for his brothers and sisters at large. “One thing that I would encourage our membership to do is reach out to your Adventist Community Services in your local church,” he asserted.

“The fact of the matter is, the good people in St. Louis didn’t know what was going to happen on May 16 … but it was through those connections that they already had that we were able to take advantage of — we were able to mobilize this effort here in St. Louis.” Relationships formed now means time saved — lives saved — later.

—John Simon is a freelance writer based in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

During General Conference Session Adventist Community Services and impact! st. louis Team Help Support Recovering Tornado Victims

Multiple levels of Adventist Community Services are joining forces with impact! st. louis, an initiative of the General Conference Youth Ministries department, to offer some relief to those still wrestling with the ramifications of the May 16 tornado. The Spanish church has been set up as a distribution center for food and other essential items. This and other community service efforts are running concurrent with the 62nd GC Session taking place downtown on July 3-12, 2025.

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