Fifty-five young Episcopalians and Lutherans in Alabama, along with the Rt. Rev. Henry N. Parsley, Bishop Coadjutor of Alabama, spent Sept. 26 cleaning up debris left behind by a tornado that struck April 8.

The group split up to work on two sites. While one crew worked to clear the rubble from the home in Edgewater that buried Robert Craig (who survived), the second group, equipped with chain saws, cleaned up and pulled the remains of several huge oak trees that destroyed part of the cemetery in the community of McDonald Chapel. The young people switched sites after a lunch break.

When the work was done, the group gathered for dinner at St. John's Church, Ensley, which houses the Episcopal-Lutheran Disaster Response Center. After dinner, Mr. Craig told his harrowing story.

Mr. Craig, a disabled electrician on dialysis and in his mid-40s, held onto a door on the night that his house and those of his neighbors fell down around them. He "came up from the rubble," went next door to find and save his brother. Together they rescued one neighbor across the street, and located and covered the body of another neighbor. Because of the debris, no ambulance could reach Mr. Craig's neighborhood until the next day.

After Mr. Craig's talk, Sarah Sartain, diocesan deputy for youth ministries and Christian formation, led a reflection session. "It's something I'll remember forever," said one young man, especially after meeting Mr. Craig.

The young people plan to start rebuilding Mr. Craig's house by the end of this year.