The tornado that hit Piedmont, Alabama, inspired the entire community to really count its blessings. Struck by the storm in the middle of its Palm Sunday service on March 27, 1994, the Goshen United Methodist Church crumbled around the devout; the tornado killed nineteen in the church, and its rampage continued on to the southeast and took the lives of nineteen more individuals. "Pews were used to carry the injured, and bodies were laid in a carport across the street from the church" (Reeves 1A). Rescue efforts were retarded by the lack of power and telephone service, but the spirit of good works carried the church through to recovery.
      "We kind of need each other," the Reverend Dale Clem hinted to the children at the service a week after the disaster ("Easter" 1A). The particularly holy highlights are as follows:

• Passing motorists assisted in transporting the injured churchgoers to nearby hospitals for treatment.

• A makeshift morgue was erected at a National Guard armory in Piedmont.

• The town civic center was transformed into a shelter for the victims' families.

• Loads of supplies, presents for the children, and sums of money were donated from across the United States to the Goshen United Methodist Church. Among the children's gifts were wrapped Easter baskets.

• A wooden cross was fashioned by a friend that Mrs. Clem, Reverend Dale Clem's wife, had not seen in years. It was given to her a few days after the disaster.

• The Goshen Methodist Church received four stained glass windows from a Roman Catholic church.

• A painting of Jesus was given to the church.

• Multitudes of flowers, cards, and letters graced the Goshen Methodist Church's mailbox.

      At the first service--held in the parking lot--following the tornado, Mrs. Clem read some scriptures from the Book of Romans. Later, Mrs. Clem and a group of small children expressed their thankful awareness of the vast community, which had come to their little church's much-needed assistance. Their conversation was amplified both by a microphone and by the potency of the message's own innocent truth:

      "Do you know how many people love you?" she [Mrs. Clem] asked.
      "A lot?" suggested one child.
      "That's an understatement," Mrs. Clem replied.