It was quite a day in Pensacola.
I was leading a "Breaking the Missional Code" seminar for the Florida Baptist Convention and the Pensacola Bay Baptist Association. I snapped a quick picture during the singing.
During the morning session, there was a big storm outside. At about the same time, people starting getting phone calls and Ted Traylor (recently interviewed here) started moving around and talking to people. It was not a big church, so I was starting to get a little irritated with Ted and decided to take a break.
Well, Ted spoke up-- there was a tornado on the ground in downtown Pensacola and it was heading this way. (Ted, you can always interrupt for a tornado!) We paused the session and moved to shelter.
Turns out the tornado headed a different direction, but it passed through and over the homes and churches of many in attendance. Folks were in and out of the meeting. Some left to help but there was little to do at this stage so they came back.
Greater Little Rock Baptist Church, one of the churches in the Association, took a direct hit (see the story here, here, and here). Their day care center took a strong hit. The center staff had evacuated and were later helped by the emergency responders.
Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, but the church is in bad shape. They are going to have to meet elsewhere on Sunday. But, I was encouraged to see that they have put a simple statement on their website: "Don't Worry; Just Pray, Matthew 14:13-21."
We prayed for them tonight and you could tell this family of churches was worried for, and ready to help, their friends.
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