Joey Tombrella’s cellphone has been in a constant buzz over the past few days.
Tombrella, pastor of First Baptist Church Kerrville, has fielded calls, texts and emails from countless people asking how they can help in the wake of historic flooding in the Texas Hill Country that, to date, has left more than 100 people dead with many still missing.
RELATED: Check out more stories on the Texas flooding and response.
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FBC Kerrville’s facility was not damaged — a blessing, as it is now serving as an operations hub for Southern Baptists of Texas Disaster Relief. Even so, the still-unfolding catastrophe is deeply impacting the congregation. One member is still unaccounted for, and families in the church are grieving the deaths of loved ones, friends, and neighbors.
“Our people are just processing all that,” Tombrella said. “It’s just so fresh and so new. … It doesn’t feel like we’re living this. I just got off the phone with someone and it’s like, ‘Is this really happening?’”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Jayson Larson and originally published by the Southern Baptist Texan.
