Oklahoma Church Congregants Gather for Praise & Worship One Week after a Tornado Destroys Their Building

The congregation of an Oklahoma church heavily damaged in a tornado met together just one week after the storm to pray and worship despite the losses.
On March 21, The Texoma Southern Baptist Church was hit by an EF-2 tornado. According to the Baptist Press , many of the buildings on the church’s property, including Pastor Keith Rogers’ parsonage, were heavily damaged in the storm.
Rogers recalled that he and his wife were watching the local news that night of the storm.
“They mentioned that the tornado warnings had expired, so I went back into the living room to tell Cindy, but then I noticed the winds pick up and get stronger. I thought they were downburst winds, but this was different,” he said.
“I yelled, ‘Bathroom!’ and we went in. Right when we shut the door, we could hear the glass and everything breaking,” he said.
“We knew it was going to be bad, but I’ll say this, the good Lord took care of us.” The tornado blew the roof off of their home as it quickly passed over the church property. The storm also tore off the church gym’s roof and gutted the fellowship hall. Office space and classrooms were also severely damaged. Soon after, disaster relief teams and church and other religious leaders arrived at the church property to offer help and prayer. The day after the storm, Executive Director-
Treasurer of Oklahoma Baptists Todd Fisher met with Rogers at the site of the church and parsonage.
“I am so grateful the Lord protected Keith and his wife Cindy, who were in the parsonage when the tornado hit,” Fisher said. “Also I am grateful for the fast response of our Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief teams, already on the scene removing debris and providing meals. These are some of the best people on the planet.”
Just one week after the storm, Texoma Southern Baptist Church members met at the church property to thank relief team members. They then gathered at a nearby community center and sang, “Victory in Jesus,” “Heaven Came Down” and
“Serve Him with Gladness.”
“Things went well,” Rogers said. “We announced there would be a leadership team assessing damages. There’s still a lot of work to be done in the community. But we had a good day in the Lord.”