Since I was traveling, the news of the tornadoes that ravaged Alabama and surrounding states reached me late. Back home Talia, Emily and Leah spent the night riding out the storm.

The email from David Armstrong, President of Shorttermmissions.com, had an intriguing subject line: "since you are the most nimble organization ...." 

He wanted to know if AIM intended to do anything to respond to the disaster in the southeast. And I thought, "Huh?" The news was shocking. Hundreds dead. Whole towns destroyed.

But of course you always look at this sort of thing on a personal level. My girls! How are they? Did the storm go through Gainesville?

Thankfully, one of the next emails I opened was from Talia saying, "Tornados till 2am, house is still standing, we're all okay."

AIM has cultivated a reputation for being among the first on the scene in the wake of disasters like Katrina and the Haitian earthquake. I wrote Dave back and said, "Yes. We've got staff in Alabama an I'm guessing they've already been dispatched to see how we can help out by sending teams asap."

The church of Jesus specializes in bringing hope to people who have none. His spirit fills us with compassion and an urgency to express it. We want to reach out and help. And I'm betting that a lot of others do as well.

If you'd like to respond, please call AIM at 770-983-5000 or email us  and we'll put you to work making a difference.