MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — Dozens of people came together for a prayer service in Mt Juliet Thursday night, just days after a deadly tornado ripped through the town.
The service was held at Providence Church, just a few miles from where the tornado leveled homes and schools. For many, the service was a chance to grieve, reflect and cry with their community.
“We can all relate to the same pain, the loss of schools, the loss of homes,” Dewayne Jones said before entering the church’s worship center.
The loss of homes is something clear in neighborhoods near West Wilson Middle School that we’re decimated by the storm.
“Honestly, I’m grateful that everybody on this street is alive,” Daniel Schafer said from the front porch of his home that was badly damaged by the tornadoes.
“You didn’t really have time to be scared. You’re just worried about your kids and your wife. We just padded ourselves with blankets and pillows. She just started praying and when it kind of came over over us. She just said Jesus please keep us safe over and over, over and over. and He did," said Schafer.
”It doesn’t look like it, but we’re very lucky,” next-door neighbor Megan Fuentas-Lai said as she was moving things out of her home, which was also hit by the storm.
Emergency officials spoke at the prayer service, talking about the damage and the miracles that took place even in the midst of hopelessness.
