Clergy members offer encouragement to Woodward tornado victims

Pastors and chaplains in this storm-ravaged city said they want people to know that the Lord is ever present in the midst of turmoil.

“We just want to emphasize that God can be trusted, even in times of struggle,” the Rev. Jason Dirks, senior pastor at Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church, said Friday.

“His plan moves through tragedy and brings good even in times of tragedy.”

Dirks said he had been asked to give the eulogy at Saturday's funeral service for three victims of the EF3 tornado that hit Woodward on Sunday. Frank Hobbie, 27, and his daughters Faith Hobbie, 7; and Kelly Hobbie, 4, died as a result of injuries suffered when the tornado touched down at the family's home at the Hide-A-Way Mobile Home Park.

The Rev. Mary Davis, vicar of St. John's Episcopal Church, said many of Woodward's churches had connections with people who died, lost loved ones or whose homes were damaged or destroyed.

The Rev. Donnetta Hunter, outreach pastor of Woodward First Assembly of God, said she and several clergy visited an early childhood center to talk to teachers and students grieving for two young children who died in the storm. She said they encouraged the children to talk about their feelings, and some of the youths wrote in their journals.