Wednesday, April 16, 2008

After the Rain

As Sunday approached, I was excited to see exactly what was in store for us as we gathered to worship at the site of the tent. Due to work and back issues, neither my husband nor I had been able to get to church to help with the clean up effort. We had no idea what to expect. We drove up to find that the awning at the entrance to the tent, the front doors, and the back doors were the only things left standing. And, amazingly, the shavings hadn't been disturbed!!

Here we are socializing waiting for the service to begin.



Praise & worship time





Pastor Dan doing what he does best....preaching!



It's really hard to put into words how awesome it was to sit out in the open air, under the vast blue sky, seeing the beauty around us that God had created while praising and worshiping God, the Creator. I heard from Dan that more people commented on how they enjoyed being able to see the view while worshiping and listening to the sermon. It was great!

While this storm was a tragic blow to our church, it's going to be so exciting to see where God takes us from here.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

And the Rains Came Down...

In the early morning hours of Thursday, April 10, 2008 a fierce line of thunderstorms moved through our area, bringing with it several tornadoes. One of these tornadoes touched down near my church which had been meeting in a large tent since last July. This was the second time the tent came down, but this time, the tent suffered irreparable damage. Not much survived, but thankfully, no one was hurt and the church banded together to clean up the mess. We had the BEST service this morning meeting under God's heavens, praising and worshiping Him. It's awesome to see God's people pull together in times of adversity and persevere to the finish line. We know that God has wonderful things planned for our church if we remain faithful to Him.

Here are a few pics that were emailed to me of the damage.

From the parking lot, looking toward the front door. (The front door is located at the end of that awning.)


Look at this mess! People were at the church all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday cleaning up, looking for anything that could be salvaged.



Soggy bible



We met in this same spot this morning, minus the fallen wall and soggy chairs. The shavings managed to stay in place during the storm, too!



It's going to be exciting to see what God has for us next! I can't wait!!