'The Good Lord Took Care of Us' : Southern Baptist Church Destroyed In Kingston Tornado

Pastor Keith Rogers has been praying for the Texoma community for 16 years, so it was nothing new when he asked God for help as a tornado bore down on his Texoma Southern Baptist Church Monday evening.

“We noticed the wind picked up and then it really picked up very quickly,” Rogers said.

Pastor Keith as he’s known to the community said he and his wife Cindy ran for the bathroom as they heard the tornado roar. 

“The glass was flying and everything, and within 20 seconds the roof was gone,” he said. “We knew it was going to be bad, but I’ll say this the good Lord took care of us.” 

The parsonage he calls home was destroyed; the 50-year-old church was shredded with debris throw for hundreds of yards. He said within minutes people began showing up to lend a hand. 

“It’s amazing, the community we live in is a great community,” Marshall County Emergency Manager Daniel Nixon said. “They’re all here to help. They’re here to help each other this is all family to all of us.”

Pastor Keith said all there’s left to do now is begin picking up the pieces and looking to brighter days. 

“A lady came up to me and said, ‘here I found this out in the field,’ and it was a picture of my brother and my mother,” Rogers said. ‘She passed away three years ago on 16 March, but that’s what’s going to be great, to be able to go around and people come up and say, ‘hey I think this belongs to you,’ because they recognize my face.”

Rogers’ son said he’s confident the church will rebuild, however, he said his dad’s belongings are all uninsured. He’s created a GoFundMe to help with rebuilding efforts.

“It’s going to be a long haul, but we’ll get through it. We will get through it,” he said.