Convoy, Churches Responding to Needs of Tornado Victims

UPDATED 5/22/25

Convoy of Hope is working with at least three Assemblies of God churches to distribute aid to victims of deadly tornadoes that struck the St. Louis area and in the cities of London and Sumerset in western Kentucky.

According to Ethan Forhetz, national spokesperson for Convoy of Hope, the compassion organization has partnered with City Temple in Granite City, Illinois (just across the border from St. Louis), and with MiddleTree Church in downtown St. Louis as well as with Faith AG in London, Kentucky.

“So far we’ve delivered 270,000 pounds of aid to 14,145 people,” Forhetz states. “That’s food, water, tarps, totes for people’s belongings, and clean-up supplies such as rakes, brooms, and trash bags. In western Kentucky, we’ve provided solar-powered generators to first responders as they don’t have power.”

Rodney Goodlett, lead pastor for Faith AG, reports that the EF4 tornado that came through Sumerset and London did not damage any AG churches. However, the churches have been partnering with Convoy of Hope and MercyChefs to minister to their communities.

"The tornado hit late Friday night and at 6 a.m. Saturday I received a call from Convoy of Hope," Goodlett says. "By that evening, a Convoy of Hope truck from Springfield (Missouri) arrived — it was incredible. We've also been working with MercyChefs, serving lunch and dinner — roughly 1,200 meals twice a day — and now we're also taking truckloads of meals out to where the people are."

Goodlett notes that a second Convoy truck arrived on Monday along with representatives to do chainsaw work.

Goodlett says as the church is a recognized Red Cross shelter and has been actively involved in serving the region whenever disaster strikes, the congregation already has a culture of working and volunteering to help.

"Our people were ready to go," Goodlett says. "We have key leaders and key communicators in our church and when the call went out, are people were all-in . . . hundreds have volunteered to serve."

To this point, no Assemblies of God churches in the Kentucky Ministry Network or the Southern Missouri Ministry Network have been reported as damaged by the weekend’s outbreak of tornadoes.

Dan Van Veen

Dan Van Veen is news editor of AG News. Prior to transitioning to AG News in 2001, Van Veen served as managing editor of AG U.S. Missions American Horizon magazine for five years. He attends Central Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri, where he and his wife, Lori, teach preschool Sunday School and 4- and 5-year-old Rainbows boys and girls on Wednesdays.