Ramona Thornton is in
awe of how far her congregation has come.
"It wasn't one person
or 5 but the whole church," said Thornton.
There is still more work
to do in the sanctuary at the new Mount Hebron East Baptist Church in Eclectic
but for Thornton this is Heaven.
"It's beautiful..
just wonderful," she said.
The tornado destroyed
the original building on April 27th almost two years ago, a church built in
1896, one that held more than 100 years of memories.
On that terrible night
the community lost 7 people in the storm and that number would have been higher
perhaps had 4 members of the church actually made it to the church basement
from their homes. They thought the basement at the time would be safer in the
storm.
"The weather got so
bad and the wind so strong they were forced to turn around and go back,"
Thornton said.
Thornton says that
turned out to be a miracle along with the money to help rebuild. Church leaders
say they only had enough insurance to cover only a quarter of the
reconstruction. The rest came through donations from the congregation. Thornton
admits she misses the old house of worship.
But there's something
refreshing she says about starting over.
"In the old church
the aisle was only three feet wide but in the new church it will be 6 feet and
there'll be enough room for us to hug and greet each other," said
Thornton.
The new Mount Hebron
East Baptist is slightly larger and the new building comes with a carport.
Until the sanctuary is finished, this small congregation of around 60 will hold
services for the first time in the new fellowship hall.
Thornton tells us they
will officially dedicate their new church on April 28th, one day after the
two-year anniversary mark during the 10:30 service that morning.
Church members say they
learned two lessons from this experience; don't give up when a tragedy strikes,
and nature isn't always so kind.
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