MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
One of the places families have gathered, hoping to reunite with loved ones still missing in the flooding, is First Presbyterian Church in Kerrville. Pastor Jasiel Hernandez Garcia has led the church for the last two years, and he's on the line with us this morning. Good morning, Pastor Jasiel. Thank you so much for joining us.
JASIEL HERNANDEZ GARCIA: Good morning. Thank you for having us.
MARTIN: You just heard my colleague, Juana Summers, talk about what she's seeing when you look around your church and the people who are waiting there, hoping to find - hoping against hope, really, to find missing family members or friends. Can you describe what you've been seeing?
HERNANDEZ GARCIA: Absolutely. So we've seen tremendous heartache, of course, and tremendous grief as we continue to mourn the losses in our community. We are only one degree of separation from those who have been directly affected by this, but we are also continuing to see tremendous hope in the way that the community around us in Texas and beyond, they continue to show up. They continue to call the church about what they can do, what they can offer, and how they can be a part of the rebuilding process that will take many, many months ahead.
MARTIN: And you talked about just the few degrees of separation between people there. I'm imagining that many people in the congregation know some of the people still missing. Do you have a sense of who they are?
HERNANDEZ GARCIA: Absolutely. I cannot really speak, but we do have several families directly affected by this, people who lost everything. We also have friends of friends who remain missing and/or whose kids were at camp during the last couple of weeks.
MARTIN: You know, on the program yesterday, we actually talked about a member of your church who died in the flood, Cynthia (ph) Ragsdale. She was known as Jane. Just - would you mind just telling us a little bit about her?
HERNANDEZ GARCIA: Absolutely. I had the privilege of knowing Jane. She was a cornerstone of our community. She was a beloved member of the church. She led various ministries. She was someone who loved fiercely and who had a great passion for leading, especially young people, young women. And one of the most beautiful things that we remember about her is her singing. And you've perhaps seen some of the videos online about her leading with song. And so she was a gifted singer and someone, again, who really engaged the community in a transformative way.
MARTIN: And I think - I understand that she was a co-owner of one of these summer camps, but they just happened not to be in session, is that correct?
HERNANDEZ GARCIA: That's correct.
MARTIN: So she was there by herself?
HERNANDEZ GARCIA: No, there were staff. Again, this was one of those weeks that didn't have anyone on campus. Campus meaning...
MARTIN: Yeah.
HERNANDEZ GARCIA: ...Preparing for the next session.
MARTIN: Yeah. Do you mind if I ask how are you holding up?
HERNANDEZ GARCIA: I am doing OK. I must confess that I feel overwhelmed. Again, the amount of grief hitting our community is unimaginable. And - but I also, you know, I go to bed, and I find myself in tears and hope, knowing that lots of people care about us, that they continue to hold us in prayer, and they want to make a difference in the lives of those affected by this.
MARTIN: Well, that is certainly true. Is there a prayer or a scripture that you are turning to in this moment that's giving you comfort and other people in the community some comfort?
HERNANDEZ GARCIA: Absolutely. We continue - as we gather on worship - to worship on Sunday, we, while it may sound cliche, we return to psalm 23, which remains true, even more true today about how despite the valleys of shadows and death God remains with us and that we continue to hope that goodness and mercy will be with us every step of the way because it is a long way ahead.
MARTIN: That is Pastor Jasiel Hernandez Garcia of First Presbyterian Church in Kerrville, Texas. Pastor Jasiel, do - please know that our thoughts are with you and with the people that you are trying to comfort. And I do hope that you'll take comfort in that as well.
HERNANDEZ GARCIA: Thank you so much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
