KERRVILLE, Texas –One year after the tragic flooding in the Texas Hill Country that left residents experiencing tremendous physical and personal loss along with emotional traumas, local churches are once again springing into action as devastating flood waters take a toll on their community.
As first responders assess the needs, local churches in Kerrville immediately began offering support and resources to assist with relief efforts.
“We are currently checking on neighbors and church members to see what damage was received and assess needs,” said John Wheat, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Kerrville.
“We had a few neighbors shelter at our church on the morning of the flood because creeks rose higher than levels over the last 25 years. … We are sending out a few teams to support the needs in our church and community.”
Local pastors are offering words of comfort, encouragement and prayerful support as they cling to the promises of God’s Word.
“God always positions us if we will allow Him to be ready for whatever comes,” Wheat said. “It is always a blessing to know that there is a faith community that goes beyond any one church or denomination ready to support. Psalm 46:7 reminds us of God’s provision and power to preserve. ‘The LORD of armies is with us: The God of Jacob is our stronghold.’”
As a result of the tragic events of last year, Wheat noted that every time there is heavy rain in surrounding areas, painful memories come flooding back for many residents.
“There is the memory any time it rains heavily in Kerrville and surrounding areas,” Wheat said. “This amount of rain brought extreme anxious moments for many. Pray for peace and God’s presence through this next process of cleaning out and even possible portions of rebuilding again. While most were safe, there was loss of life and our hearts always go out to those families.
Trinity Baptist is still housing volunteer groups coming to the area to help with rebuilding efforts due to last year’s flood. Those volunteers are helping as waters rise.
Last year, First Baptist Church in Kerrville and its pastor, Joey Tombrella, opened church facilities to disaster relief teams with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Once again, the church is ready and able to offer assistance.
“Our church has jumped in to help serve immediately,” Tombrella said. “Several began to clean up damage in our church building, while others are already helping church members and neighbors clean out their home and clean up fallen trees.
“We have canceled our regular Sunday morning (July 19) classes and invited anyone to a churchwide breakfast for Sunday morning followed by prayer and a message of hope. We are telling our city that if anyone needs help in any way, we are doing our best to form teams to meet that need, whether it to clean up or provide financial assistance.”
Like last year, the church is ready to be used a staging area for disaster relief.
“There is a mental and emotional strain seeing the city rebuild itself after catastrophic loss and see the same things again,” Tombrella said. “Encouragement and hope for those most affected is the biggest need. We know that real hope only comes through Jesus. The church needs fortitude and boldness to keep working, meeting needs and sharing hope.”
Tombrella said as he was watching the rain coming down, he was drawn to God’s Word.
“I was led to Psalm 23 and 24 and reminded that our God is the God of ‘even if,’ not ‘what if.’ Psalm 23:4 states ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’
“God never promises that the valley of the shadow of death wouldn’t loom and lurk over us as we walked through it. Rather, He promises to be with us with every step. The Good Shepherd is also the King of Glory. Therefore, we can even lift up our head in hope through it all. He is the God who is there.”
Joe Taylor, pastor of Southern Oaks Baptist Church in Kerrville, said his church also is ready to meet needs just as it has throughout the past year.
“Our church has been in the forefront of helping survivors and businesses since the 2025 flood on July 4,” Taylor said. “With guidance from an organization called ‘United in Crisis,’ the “big C” Church has come together and supported each other in our efforts to help. Due to the generosity of so many people across our nation, we have given away over a million dollars in grants, RVs and cars to replace what was lost.”
Southern Oaks also has trained “shepherds,” who can walk alongside survivors through their grief.
“Instead of just giving money, our people are giving of themselves,” Taylor said. “The shepherds are checking on the survivors, taking them to doctor’s appointments or grocery stores, making sure they are mentally OK. We have given them Christmas gifts and coffee visits.”
Like many others, Taylor has seen the personal impact of sharing the love of Christ in his community during a very crucial time. He has witnessed numerous people accept Christ over the past year.
“We have partnered with others in our community, and as a result, church attendance is up,” Taylor said. “Just last week a local non-profit director came to my office asking how she can be made right with God. We have distributed Gospels of John everywhere.”
Taylor acknowledged that the current flooding is different.
“Obviously, our community is very discouraged about having to go through this again,” Taylor said. “Please pray for a spirit of hope to replace despair. This time, we are prepared to help more quickly. Everything is already in process. Last time, we didn’t know what to do at first.”
For those looking for ways to respond, local pastors suggested providing financial donations to area churches through designated funds that have been set up to assist with relief efforts.
“Please pray for financial donations to help us rebuild while sharing the love of Christ,” Taylor said. “Not only will the finances help restore what was lost, but the financial gifts open the hearts of the victims to receive prayer and spiritual direction.”
Taylor said the donations have allowed the Gospel to be on display.
“Last year, our church supported a restaurant owner with finances after he completely lost his building, but we didn’t give him the full amount all at once,” Taylor said. “Instead, I took a grant to him and gave him the Gospel of John and my testimony. Then, several weeks later, I took him another grant that was even larger and told him how much God loved him and his family.
“Then, several weeks later, I took him and his family some homemade food, and the whole family prayed to receive Jesus. Our church partnered together with two other churches to restore water wells in two different subdivisions. When the wells were finished we had a well blessing and sang songs and shared how God has done great things in His Word with people at the wells.”
Taylor said he has been “overwhelmed” by the support shown over the past year and is greatly encouraged as local churches come to help with relief efforts.
“Last year, we opened a supply store and became overwhelmed with all the physical donations,” Taylor said. “This time, our community has three designated supply locations while we can focus on meeting the spiritual, financial and mental health needs. We have a group of vetted Christian counselors that in partnership with another church, we are paying for the necessary counseling of survivors. Our community has really stepped up and joined hands of hope to help restore our residents.”
