{"id":48164,"date":"2024-10-14T15:11:11","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T19:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/?p=48164"},"modified":"2025-11-04T16:22:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:22:27","slug":"iglesia-bautista-bethel-devastated-by-flood-waters-so-blessed-i-want-to-cry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/iglesia-bautista-bethel-devastated-by-flood-waters-so-blessed-i-want-to-cry\/","title":{"rendered":"Iglesia Bautista Bethel devastated by flood waters: \u2018So blessed I want to cry\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA\u2013\u201cEverything utterly destroyed\u2013furniture, seats, resources.\u201d That\u2019s how Pastor Rafael Sanchez described the newly renovated church building of Tampa\u2019s Iglesia Bautista Bethel<\/a>, flooded with more than two feet of water after Hurricane Milton unleashed its fury Oct. 9.<\/p>\n

Immediately, church members, described by the pastor as an \u201carmy of redeemed men and women\u201d who \u201cput everything aside,\u201d jumped into action, clearing furnishings and supplies out of the sanctuary, ripping out carpet, sweeping out all traces of water and muck, cleaning, dumping 15 truckloads of debris.<\/p>\n

The backbreaking action was nothing new for many of these church members. Over the years, Sanchez has led his congregation on numerous mission trips to help other churches rebuild their facilities. Now, his church was the one that<\/p>\n

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“\u201cWe are so blessed that I want to cry.\u201d”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n Rafael Sanchez<\/strong>
\n pastor, Iglesia Bautista Bethel, Tampa\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

would have to rebuild.<\/p>\n

Catching his breath after an intense two days, Sanchez said, \u201cI just want to cry.\u201d But not for the reason you might think. He didn\u2019t want to cry because of the heartbreak of a church building devastated by flood waters. The pastor wanted to cry because the church \u201cis so blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so blessed that I want to cry.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>
A pile of soggy carpet bears testimony to the devastation left behind at Tampa\u2019s Iglesia Bautista Bethel after Hurricane Milton\u2019s landfall.
Photo provided by Iglesia Bautista Bethel, Tampa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Church volunteers make their way past overturned pews and standing water at Iglesia Bautista Bethel in Tampa. Everything, including carpet, was removed from the newly renovated church sanctuary flooded by Hurricane Milton.
Photo provided by Iglesia Bautista Bethel, Tampa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Blessing in partnership<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sanchez discovered his blessing in partnership. Amid the soggy mess, Sanchez discovered that, when a Florida Baptist congregation is facing an overwhelming challenge, it\u2019s not doing so alone.<\/p>\n

The pastor expressed thankfulness for the \u201csupport of so many Baptist pastors and leaders calling and praying,\u201d including Stephen Rummage, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention<\/a>, who called to pray with the pastor and offer words of encouragement.<\/p>\n

Even as church members were hauling church pews out of the building, setting them on the church lawn, Pastor Sanchez was making a phone call to nearby Calvary Espanol<\/a> in Clearwater, pastored by Vlad Vasquez. Without hesitation Vasquez said he wanted his congregation to do what they could to help Iglesia Bautista Bethel. Emanuel Roque, Florida Baptists\u2019 Hispanic multicultural<\/a> catalyst, then helped coordinate the church-to-church partnership.<\/p>\n

By Saturday afternoon the Clearwater church had delivered and helped unload and set up 240 chairs so the Tampa congregation could gather for Sunday worship.<\/p>\n

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In a church-to-church partnership, Calvary Espanol Clearwater delivered and helped unload and set up 240 chairs so that Tampa\u2019s Iglesia Bautista Bethel could gather for worship the Sunday following Hurricane Milton\u2019s devastating impact. Here, Rene Hernandez rolls a stack of chairs into Iglesia Bautista Bethel. Photo provided by Iglesia Bautista Bethel, Tampa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Overcome with emotion, Sanchez expressed gratefulness for the \u201cgenerosity of a sister congregation\u201d and declared that in just two days, \u201cWe went from disaster to blessing, from the impossible to certainty, from hopelessness to joy and gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the storm\u2019s chaotic aftermath, Sanchez turned his gaze from the temporal to the eternal, \u201cIncomparable God, You are worthy of being feared, loved and adored in all times and circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

A little more than 72 hours after Hurricane Milton\u2019s landfall, the Iglesia Bautista Bethel congregation gathered joyfully \u201cto sing of the greatness of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

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“\u201cWe went from disaster to blessing, from the impossible to certainty, from hopelessness to joy and gratitude.\u201d”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n Rafael Sanchez<\/strong>
\n pastor, Iglesia Bautista Bethel, Tampa\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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A visible reminder of God\u2019s guidance in all circumstances, prayer requests and blessings remain on a classroom wall at Iglesia Bautista Bethel in Tampa after Hurricane Milton flooded the newly renovated church building. Photo by Carol Veneman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Join your fellow Florida Baptists in <\/em>giving<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>going<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and praying to undergird the efforts of Florida Baptist Disaster Relief to bring help, healing and hope in times of crisis.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cEverything utterly destroyed\u2013furniture, seats, resources.\u201d That\u2019s how Pastor Rafael Sanchez described the newly renovated church building of Tampa\u2019s Iglesia Bautista Bethel, flooded with more than two feet of water after Hurricane Milton unleashed its fury Oct. 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":48174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140,22,23,50,25],"tags":[885,886,135,887],"class_list":["post-48164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disaster-relief-missions","category-providing","category-sharing","category-region-southwest","category-stories","tag-fbdr-chaplain","tag-fbdr-volunteer","tag-florida-baptist-disaster-relief","tag-port-charlotte"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48164"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67790,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48164\/revisions\/67790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}