Tornado Causes Big Damage At Community Church

After the rain and dust cleared Friday morning, two Chivington women immediately thought of their church, wondering how it fared in the twister that touched down in their community.

“My husband came and told me it was really bad,” said church member Ty Williams. “I didn’t know how bad.”

Williams said she cried when she saw the damage at Chivington Friends Community Church. There was a tree on the roof, glass from broken windows scattered all over the sanctuary and debris, including pages torn from hymnals, on the floor.

“It took a pretty bad hit,” said Williams.

For her friend, Lauretta Brown, the damage was particularly hard to stomach.

“My husband was born and raised in this area, and his family was instrumental in founding this church,” said Brown. “This is our home church for many, many years.”

Brown said the church is always open, providing shelter and food to anyone who needs it.

“This church has been known as ‘Lighthouse of the Prairie’ because it’s right on the highway and many people just stop in,” said Brown.

A place of worship that’s helped many, now needs help picking up the pieces.

“We’ll survive it,” said Brown.

“We’ll come together and put it back together and rebuild our church,” said Williams. “Because it’s important to us.”

They said they’re not worried about finding help rebuilding.

“People in Kiowa County, whether we know each other or not, we always pull together,” said Williams.