If Shirley Stamper rebuilds her home, she’ll be sure to include a storm shelter. 

Dec 10, 2021 — Mayfield is in the bullseye, the station says. Stamper, 83, heads towards her closet upon hearing she is in the direct path of an EF4 tornado. There are estimated winds of 170 mph, the station now says. 

Once inside the closet, Stamper hears the sound. It’s the sound of a long track tornado ripping across western Kentucky, with a path length stretching up to 165.7 miles. The house begins to rock, and the windows shatter — the leaves blow against Stamper, rushing in through the closet’s louvered door. 

“If I had been sitting in the chair that I normally sit in, it fell right on that chair,” Stamper said, referring to the tree that once stood by her driveway. “I don’t know how. I don’t know how we all got out. But we did.”

Stamper credits the TV stations for saving so many lives. 

When driving through her hometown, she is dismayed by the destruction. Without its familiar buildings, Stamper hardly recognizes where she’s at.

“I had lived here ever since the day I got married. That is about 67 years. And never lived anywhere else and don’t want to live anywhere else,” Stamper said. 

Stamper, who will turn 84 in June, plans to rebuild. Since the beginning of January, Stamper has been living in a duplex that her grandson and daughter-in-law found for her. 

But it’s still not home, Stamper said.  

On a mission to rebuild

Meanwhile, 478 miles south of Mayfield, the Baptist College Ministry at Troy University was deciding how best to spend their spring break.  

The team was evaluating their different options, considering international ministry in Clarkston, Georgia and New York City. During this process, their president, Haley Everett, was communicating with a Murray State student the night of the storms. The brokenness was close, and it soon became apparent that their team was being called to do disaster relief work. 

“It just seemed like a good ministry opportunity to sort of meet people where they are in the middle of a really tough situation,” Ellie Russell, a senior at Troy University, said. 

Russell is considering graduate school for her degree in English education.

“I think it hits close to home for a lot of us,” Russell said, remembering the 2011 Super Outbreak in Alabama.

Only a couple of days before they left for Kentucky, they had been woken at 4 a.m. by their RAs, telling them to take shelter on the first floor due to tornado warnings.

The drive to western Kentucky was prolonged due to a snowstorm. Team leader and Campus Director, Brad Vinson, followed in the tracks of an 18-wheeler for the majority of the eight-to-nine hour drive. With tense arms, Vinson drove below the speed limit as his team prayed that the semi-truck would not get off an exit. 

The team first got in contact with Stamper’s daughter-in-law and nephew. 

“He called him and asked them if they were still cleaning up, and I said yes, so they came,” Stamper said. “And you know, I’m so blessed that they did.”

It was Stamper’s first time back since the day she had moved out. 

“When we first met Miss Shirley, she drove up in her car. We had already started working,” Russell said. “She was really upset. You know, she started crying and let us know it was the first time back and just said, `It’s more than I can handle right now.'”

The team prayed for her, and after Stamper thanked them and said, I’ll try to come back tomorrow. So she came back the next day while they were working. 

“She was so excited to see us again and just was loving on us and talking about how much she’s been blessed in the midst of everything,” Russell said. “She was so grateful.”

Hearing of how Stamper’s neighbors and the local church gathered around her and provided for her and her family was a humbling experience for Russell and the rest of the team. 

“It was almost like she was giving so much more than we were because it was such a blessing to hear her heart and know that she felt encouraged,” Russell said.

 She has enjoyed seeing herself and other members of the team grow. For some of the group, this was their first time on mission. The team filled a dumpster with debris for those couple of days, piling it by the road by Stamper’s property. 

“That impacted our students and probably challenged them or encouraged them to get busy and make an impact in her life,” Vinson said.

Through people like Stamper, these students learn to overcome different anxieties and serve others. 

A member of First Baptist Church in Murray told Vinson that he still cries every day when he drives through the downtown to go to work, just because of the impact that it’s had on the community.  

“We’re here, but we can’t really imagine the change, but we know we can make a simple difference and a few lives while we’re here,” Vinson said. “These students are learning how to connect with people who have experienced loss.” 

For Russell, it is an honor to be part of something bigger than herself. 

“It’s a clear and present need — that’s a momentary need — but that builds hope and encouragement that’ll sustain people past the week that we’re here,” Russell said.

To her, disaster relief is incredible because of how personal it is. It’s not just a fly-by. 

Russell never thought she would feel comfortable meeting someone who’s gone through something so traumatic. Still, in meeting them in their suffering, she has been able to encourage people and have conversations about hope. 

“You recognize it’s not about us. And how, as a team, you are the hands and feet of Christ. Like we’re meant to be focused on others.”

Ellie Russell, senior at Troy University

“You recognize it’s not about us,” Russell said. “And how, as a team, you are the hands and feet of Christ. Like we’re meant to be focused on others.” 

When Sarah Isbell first heard of the trip, she felt that it would be a productive way to spend her spring break. As a nursing major, she thought it would be an opportunity to serve and do something outside herself. 

“At the drop of a hat, I was like, I’m going,” Isbell said. 

Isbell wanted to learn how to remain calm in these situations while being inspired by the perseverance of those who have faced this kind of tragedy. 

“This stuff is bound to happen, and so it’s just kind of learning how to accept everything and making the best of the situation you’ve been given,” Isbell said. “Keeping a positive attitude and trusting, trusting that God knows what he’s doing, and everything happens for a reason.”

Aside from helping individuals like Stamper, the BCM team has also served at the distribution center. The team stayed at First Baptist Murray for the week. They hiked at Hematite and Land Between the Lakes in their free time. 

“I think we’ve made a lot of good friendships here. It’s definitely going to carry into school,” Isabell said. Each night, the group of ten students went to the gym and played a different game. 

“Good kids, I’ll tell you. I just can’t believe it,” Stamper said, encouraged by not just the team of students but also her community. “Oh, people have been so good, Hun.”

 After the storms, Stamper was given groceries and supplies through the distribution center at the Church of Christ of Mayfield, where she was also offered financial assistance. One day, Vinson and his team were joined by a Catholic ministry from Northeastern University. 

Some have worked clean-up. Some have passed out meals from a food truck. For Vinson and his team of students, it was as simple as picking up debris for Stamper. Regardless of the task, people have gathered from across the country to serve Mayfield.