Twister that killed 24 left the Moore area ‘like a war zone’

Mardel Christian & Education, Berean Christian Stores, Kerusso and others in the Christian products industry rallied to help survivors of the May 20 tornado that devastated much of Moore, Okla. The twister killed at least 24 and injuring more than 200. 

Moore is located near Oklahoma City, corporate headquarters of Mardel, which has three stores in the area. Mardel customers supported tornado survivors when they purchased the chain’s exclusive Hope unisex T-shirt. All profits from the sales of the shirt were donated to Convoy of Hope for relief efforts. 

Berean gave customers an opportunity to buy a Bible to encourage survivors of the tornado. The “Buy a Bible to Benefit Oklahoma Relief and Recovery” initiative is part of the 18-outlet chain’s Give Hope In Deed project, where each store is involved in ministry to local people in need. 

“For every Bible purchased by a guest, Berean will contribute a Bible to a tornado victim in Oklahoma,” Berean Director of Marketing Denise Chaney said. “The guest can then write a short, encouraging note to the recipient of the Bible on a Give Hope Indeed sticky [note], and guests may also choose to give the Bible they purchase as well. 

“There is a possibility of Berean sending over 7,000 Bibles to the area,” she added. “We have partnered with Matthew 25 Ministries here in Cincinnati, who indicated that they would be delighted to include these Bibles in their parcels being delivered to the tornado victims in Moore.”

Kerusso’s Father’s Day Sale offered a 10% discount on all its products, including iPhone covers and travel mugs. The company encouraged shoppers to “help share God’s love in Moore,” with 10% of sales on Kerusso.com going to the Salvation Army.

Meanwhile, Yancy donated all proceeds from her new single. Sale via iTunes of “Safe,” featured on Yancy’s recently released worship album, Roots for the Journey (Elevate Entertainment/Syntax Distribution), were donated to Nashville-based Conduit Mission.

Jerry Pennybaker is the manager of the Mardel location in Norman, Okla.,  and lives in Moore.

“My house is only 300 yards away from where the tornado hit, but it missed our house,” Pennybaker said.

“It felt like a war zone for sure,” he said. “We went through our house to clean up mud and debris. We found important documents from other people, a teddy bear and about 20 stray dogs as we were picking up. It’s kind of surreal.”

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