PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico (ABP) — Juan Molina doesn't remember the last tornado that hit Eagle Pass, Texas, or Piedras Negras, Mexico. And he doesn't know anyone else who recalls the last one either.
So when it started to rain earlier this week, he thought it was just another spring shower. Hours later, he was huddled with his pregnant wife and their 1-year-old daughter on the floor of their mobile home watching a tornado remove the roof of their house.
“I thought it was going to be the last day of my life,” Molina said, describing how the storm rocked his home like a ship on the ocean.
Days after the tornado, Molina still cannot find his wallet, which had his checkbook and credit cards in it. All of his family's clothing was ruined. In all, the storms killed 10 people and injured dozens more.
The Molinas are three of several hundred people staying at an American Red Cross shelter in Eagle Pass, Texas, where Baptist General Convention of Texas staff members are counseling victims and offering financial assistance.
The situation in Piedras Negras, Mexico, is even more grim. An eight-square-block area was nearly leveled by a tornado that touched down there April 24. Days after the storm hit, limbs are still strewn everywhere. Large pieces of sheet metal remain embedded in broken trees. Rubble stands where homes once were. Windows are either blown out or have holes in them where softball-size hail came through.
“It looks like a bomb exploded,” said Robert Cepeda, a BGCT church-starter who along with BGCT strategist Noe Trevino is helping coordinate Baptist disaster response in the area.
In the shadow of the remains of a 200-year-old Catholic church, volunteers from Texas Baptist Men are cooking 4,500 meals a day for tornado victims and recovery workers. The group's tent maintains a constant flow of people, creating opportunities for ministry and relationship-building.
“We have been compelled by Christ to serve mankind as demonstrated to us when he was here on earth,” Ed Alvarado said. He is the ethnic coordinator for Texas Baptist Men. “We're just trying to imitate Christ.”
Out in the community, a Baptist chainsaw team has cut and cleared limbs for residents. Four Baptist University of the Americas students spent time in the neighborhoods counseling and praying with people April 27. And Buckner Baptist Benevolences sent a load of clothes and food into Eagle Pass that day as well.
“We're an extension of the local Baptist church,” Alvarado said. “We're hoping our presence will influence and undergird the local churches in Piedras Negras.”
The Baptist General Convention of Texas has also called in trained counselors to help victims, including friends and family of those affected by the tornadoes.
“Just seeing their faces makes your heart melt,” Trevino said.
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