I’ve lived in Texas my entire life. One thing Texans can guarantee, if you wait a few minutes, the weather is sure to change, and change big. Every spring we experience spring storms, some pretty severe. A good part of every spring, Texans (in “tornado alley”) are guaranteed to be under a tornado watch or warning. This year is no exception … and this year has been a doozy!
On April 3 of this year I had several friends attending a three-day Tres Dias women’s retreat at Lakeview Baptist Encampment in Lone Star, Texas. A total of 126 women attended with leadership staff. I’ve attended both as a guest and a leader and can assure you the camp is truly a touch of heaven. Huge trees with a large mass of calm water plus the fellowship of sweet sisters. You can literally hear God in the breeze of the swaying trees.
My friend, Chani, a worship leader for the weekend, knew going to the retreat of the potential for storms that weekend. Most thought there would probably be heavy rain and wind. Thoughts of anything more severe, like a tornado, weren’t given a second thought. The camp director did advise everyone going in of the plan should severe weather occur. That was Thursday evening after everyone had arrived.
About 2:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon, all attendees and staff were evacuated from the assembly building to go outside as the building began filling with smoke from the HVAC system. Chani began leading everyone in group prayer, then the worship team began praise songs. Once the building was cleared of smoke, they were led back to the conference building, where fans had been placed. Spontaneous songs of “How Great Is Our God” began popping up, then “Sea of Victory” and “Gratitude.” At 4:20 p.m., one of the leaders began her talk on piety. Within 10 minutes, alarms starting going off on every phone in the building. Attendees were evacuated to the basement hallway (a non-glass location). When camp directors arrived, everyone knew the situation was serious and a severe storm was approaching. In an instant, prayers and songs were softly spoken. Chani told me there there was no fear amongst them, only a peace that truly passed all understanding.
At 5:20 p.m. the tornado hit. The building started shaking and doors were ripped inwards. Power was lost and lanterns turned on. Despite the emotions of the moment, there was overwhelming peace. The women and staff remained sheltered another 30 minutes or so, still praying, praising and singing. Once the storm passed and all was quiet, they were allowed to go outside. They were not prepared for what they would see.
Cars were thrown more than 300 feet, flipped, smashed and twisted. Over 300 trees were uprooted and thrown hundreds of feet. Access to the camp was impossible due to the power lines being exposed in every location. Cell coverage was non-existent. News media were not allowed in due to safety concerns. By 6:30 p.m., EMT’s arrived and escorted in. Finally, all retreat attendees and staff were allowed/escorted out of the encampment after paths were cleared by 7:45 p.m.
Later we learned the tornado was an EF-2 (possibly EF-3), which produces massive amounts of wind. It’s amazing how much destruction there was, but fascinating that the conference building where everyone was sheltering in place sustained little damage – no glass was broken and only one door broken. When I asked Chani what her takeaway was from this experience, she said, “Truly it was the hand of God protecting us. The worst hit the camp, but God protected all of us.”
Jesus is still doing the same for us … all day and everyday — loving, protecting, and protecting us in the midst of every storm in our lives. Thank you, Lord!
Debby Efurd is co-founder of Cary John Efurd Ministries of Pittsburg, TX. She has been a contributor to Bound for Life and written numerous articles published in LifeNews, Christian Post and the Baptist Standard, and is the author of Go Tell It! Debby can be contacted at caryjohnefurdministries@gmail.com. Visit her at the Second Mile blog at https://debbyefurd.com.
Tagged: leadership, prayer, Texas weather
