A massive tornado swept through southwest Missouri Sunday evening, hammering a hospital, destroying 2,000 homes and buildings, killing at least 132 people, and injuring 750 more. 

The Associated Press reports the twister tore a six-mile path across Joplin, Missouri, and damaged more than 50 percent of the city that is 160 miles south of the Kansas City area. Officials released a list of 232 people officially reported missing or unaccounted for on Thursday. As of Friday, 156 people remain on the list. 

That EF-5 tornado, the highest possible rating for a tornado with winds in excess of 200 miles per hour, was followed by more tornado warnings Tuesday for Joplin, caused by the same storm system that spawned damaging tornadoes in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas.

There are two Nazarene churches in the greater Joplin area: Joplin Calvary Church of the Nazarene, which reported some damage to their church and parsonage, and Joplin First Church of the Nazarene, which suffered no damage. 

Joplin Calvary is eight blocks from the worst devastation. They are currently warehousing relief items and directing volunteer groups. Joplin First is distributing Crisis Care Kits and housing people.

Jim Dillow, superintendent for the Church of the Nazarene's Joplin District, reports no damage at the district office, which is located in the nearby city of Carthage, Missouri.

Two relatives of Calvary Church members were killed in the tornado. At least eight Nazarene families in Joplin lost their homes and two Nazarene doctors, including MidAmerica Nazarene University Board of Trustees Chair Dr. Larry McIntire, had major damage to their respective offices. 

Also, the niece of a Kansas Nazarene couple took shelter in her bathtub when the tornado approached. Her husband of five years laid over her to protect her and was hit in the head by debris when the tornado hit. He was killed instantly. 

Joplin is home to about 50,000 residents. Nazarene Disaster Response is partnering with Heart to Heart International to provide half a ton of Crisis Care Kits to the many of people in need. 

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries personnel at the Global Ministry Center drove a truck to Joplin early Monday with multiple palettes of water, Crisis Care Kits, and personal hygiene items to the area. Carthage Church of the Nazarene is distributing kits throughout the area and is serving as a staging and training area for volunteers.

The Red Cross approved a group of Kansas City District Nazarenes to enter affected Joplin areas Thursday and Friday of this week. The trips originated from MidAmerica Nazarene University and were planned in conjunction with Joplin District leadership. 

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries expected 200 volunteers to help Thursday; nearly 800 showed up. 

The hundreds of volunteers were separated into groups of 25 or so and spread out across the city. They entered battered neighborhoods offering their help where needed. Many helped distribute Crisis Care Kits and water, also. They also were able to reach out to those suffering loss. 

One group helped a family move a piano in what was left of their home. They learned that the father of that family was killed when he put his family in the closet for safety but couldn't join them due to lack of space. When the tornado struck, he was hit with the piano and killed. 

A Joplin Nazarene and her two children, 13 and 6, were in Walmart when the tornado struck. She and her children moved to the back of the store to the electronics department and took cover. They survived the storm with only bruises. Others in the store were not as fortunate.

The Joplin District will handle the scheduling of volunteers for the next two weeks.

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries USA/Canada says all volunteers (teams and individuals) should create a volunteer profile on www.NazServe.org and connect to the service opportunity called, "Joplin, Missouri, Disaster Relief." This is how volunteer information will be recorded and coordinated. Groups wanting to schedule in the next two weeks should contact the Joplin District office directly - see more information at www.joplindistrictnazarene.org.

The day before the Joplin tornado, a tornado demolished the town of Reading, Kansas. At least one person was killed. 

There are no Nazarene churches in this area. 

Tuesday, tornadoes swept through the Midwest again, hitting sites in Oklahoma, including the city of Piedmont, just outside Oklahoma City. A Nazarene family that attends Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene lost their home in Piedmont.

In all, nearly 20 people were killed Tuesday by tornadoes in Oklahoma, central Kansas, and Denning, Arkansas. 

There are no Nazarene churches in Denning.

Southern Nazarene University requested prayer Wednesday for SNU alumna Mary Mitchell Brawner (Class of 2004) and her family, the Hamils, who lost both 3-year-old Ryan, whose body was found Thursday after an extensive search, and 15-month-old Cole. They are also praying for the healing of 5-year-old Cathleen and the children's mother, Catherine, 36. (Story from NewsOK)

Also, SNU Professor of Physics Ed Neuenschwander and his family lost their home, horse, and many of their belongings in Tuesday's storms. Their two dogs survived because they were in their locked kennels and sheltered by a bureau that "fell just right," reported the The Oklahoman.

He and his wife were on their way home when the tornado hit. 

"We pull up into the driveway; there was no house, just a pile of rubble and our pickup sitting on top of our Toyota," Neuenschwander told the newspaper. "I would have liked to see how that happened."

No damage was reported by the university; the twister hit about 15 miles from the campus. 

On Wednesday, physics professor Mark Winslow taught Neuenschwander's class at SNU.

"At first break some students just said we can't be here in class, we have to go help," Winslow told The Oklahoman. "They care a lot about him."

So students and faculty from SNU joined the hundreds of people helping sift through what little remained of Neuenschwander's block.

The Piedmont Church of the Nazarene sits two miles from where the tornado touched down. The church was not damaged, though much of the community was affected. 

The Cedar Springs Church of the Nazarene in Fairview, Oklahoma, did not escape damage. The church sustained significant damage to its roof, walls, windows, interior, and property (photos in Slide Show). No one was hurt at the church and no major injuries were reported in the community; however, several houses and buildings were wiped out.

More tornadoes hit the Midwest Wednesday, including Louisburg, Kansas, and Sedalia, Missouri, to the south and east of Kansas City, respectively. Injuries were reported in Sedalia. 

The Kansas City District reports there was no damage to Nazarene property in Sedalia and everyone associated with the church is okay.

Funnel clouds passed over the Kansas City Metro area Wednesday, forcing employees at the Church of the Nazarene's Global Ministry Center and Nazarene Publishing House to move to safe areas, but neither facility was affected.

Small tornadoes touched down briefly in the metro, local authorities said, but no significant damage was done.

Prayer is requested for the thousands affected by this latest round of storms, as well as those recovering from earlier disasters in Alabama and across the South.

FEMA says a second disaster is on the horizon for Joplin in the way of unsolicited goods. 

"Things like clothing, miscellaneous household items, mixed or perishable foodstuffs, diapers... and volunteers who just show up to help," FEMA said in a released statement.

These unsolicited items and volunteers misdirect critical resources - time is taken "to managing what has become a crush of unneeded donated items."   

FEMA asks people to stem the flow of unneeded goods and volunteers into Joplin by working with a recognized voluntary agency such as Nazarene Compassionate Ministries. FEMA suggested that the best way to help disaster survivors is by the donation of cash to a recognized voluntary agency.  

"Cash doesn't need to be sorted, stored or distributed, and it allows the voluntary agency to (put) the donation toward the needs that most urgently need addressing," the statement said.

Persons and churches wishing to make a donation for USA/Canada Tornadoes can do so online through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries atwww.ncm.org. Checks can be marked "ACM1041" and mailed to Global Treasury Services, PO Box 843116 Kansas City, MO 64184. In Canada, checks should be made payable and sent to the Church of the Nazarene Canada, 20 Regan Road, Unit 9, Brampton, Ontario L7A 1C3.

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries USA/Canada states there is currently no additional need for relief items for distribution at the Joplin site. However, their warehouse is low on Crisis Care Kits as a result of the 2011 tornadoes. For information about Crisis Care Kits, click here. Kits should be sent to the Fawn Grove, Pennsylvania, warehouse for distribution (address via link). 

NCM has distributed upwards of 20,000 kits this year to needy families.