Killeen Residents Turn to Faith in Wake of Shootings
Residents pack local churches on Sunday
By ASHANTI BLAIZE
Updated 1:32 AM CST, Mon, Nov 9, 2009
Killeen residents packed local churches Sunday morning hoping faith will help their community through what has been a very tragic week.
At Memorial Baptist church, not far from Fort Hood, the pastor offered a message of healing and hope.
"We will never forget this Thursday in November 2009, but like 9/11, like Pearl Harbor, like the Challenger accident, we move forward. We move on."
Members of the congregation were noticeably upset-- some in tears with heavy hearts.
"Some of us were just so sad that we couldn't verbalize what was going on and how we felt inside," said Killeen resident, Vivian Daveau.
Mark Rodgers, a Texas veteran, lives two hours away from Killeen, but drove all that way to park his pick up truck on the side of Highway 190 near Fort Hood. On the back of his truck was a homemade sign that read "Praying for you." He stood by his truck for hours on Sunday holding an American flag, praying for the soldiers stationed at Fort Hood.
"Yeah I guess I could be doing other things, but this is something I'll never forget for the rest of my life," said Rodgers.
Passersby honked their horns and several soldiers repeatedly stopped by his prayer memorial to thank him for his support.
"The most influential people that have stopped have been soldiers that have stopped to tell me thanks, and I'm the one that should be thanking them," said Rodgers.
First Published: Nov 8, 2009 5:52 PM CST
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