Over the Christmas holidays, while visiting family in Wisconsin, LCC staff member Dianna Bonfield had the opportunity to meet and talk with Ron Kautz about the aftermath of the tornado that hit Merrill, Wisconsin on April, 2011. In Merrill there are two LCMS churches, Trinity and St John. Many of you will remember the stories written in the Making a Difference newsletter about Trinity and members of their congregation who were at church that evening for a Sunday night worship service when the tornado siren went off. The worshipers sought out shelter in the basement of the church and finished their worship service. A good number of members at church that evening returned home to find that their homes were gone. St John also had many members whose homes were significantly damaged but not totally destroyed.

Although there was a lot of property loss and damage to homes and business, and some personal injuries, there was no loss of life. For this, members of the community, of St John and Trinity, have a lot to be grateful for. Nearly two years after the tornado most of all the homes that were completely destroyed have been rebuilt and their families have moved back in. As in all disasters there are a few homes where the families moved elsewhere or the home owner was elderly and passed the property on to family members and moved elsewhere. A number of families are still struggling with their insurance companies about their coverage and reimbursement.

The path of the tornado that touched down in Merrill was on the northwest side of town. It was a mile wide and 26 miles long. It touched down in several residential areas and industrial parks. One of the most noticeable differences 21 months later is that before the tornado, unless you were from this area around Merrill, you would not have known that there was a residential park on the northwest side of town. There were nearly one hundred homes nestled in the forest of conifer and evergreen trees that could not be seen from the highway. Today, especially in the dead of winter and with the ground covered with a foot deep blanket of snow, you can now see all the homes that now stand naked in the path the tornado mowed through the forest.

Immediately following the report that a tornado had touched down in Merrill, LCC made contact with the Pastors of Trinity and St John to if they needed help. Although LCC only deployed a few volunteers the first week, we continued to recruit and register volunteers for the North Wisconsin District. LCC also loaned them a disaster response trailer, with its equipment, for a month.

Talking with Ron Kautz of St. John, who became the volunteer coordinator for this disaster, Dianna asked him what impressed him or stood out in his memory the most about his experience after the tornado. His response was he was consistently impressed with the numbers and quality of volunteers who came to help with the clean-up. People who sacrificed their time and talent to help people they did not even know. The other thing that stood out as a result of the tornado was how God opened the door to a new ministry at St. John Lutheran Church. Last year St. John hosted a LERT training for volunteers from all over the North Wisconsin District. St John had over 25 of its members who responded to help with the clean-up following the tornado. They are hoping soon to host another training for members of their congregation.

St. John also purchased a 16-foot 2-axle trailer to use as a disaster response trailer. The local Lowe's Home Improvement Store told Ron and the other members of the LERT team to bring in a list of equipment they needed. Lowe's donated $1000 of equipment at their cost and St. John purchased the remaining equipment from Lowe's at their wholesale price. This is the first disaster response trailer in the North Wisconsin District. Even though there are LERT training volunteers in other congregations in the North Wisconsin District, for St. John God clearly opened wide a door for a new ministry to share the Comfort, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Christ in this community.

If your congregation is interested in hosting a LERT training, please contact Dianna Bonfield at 866-455-6466 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it