Chaplains provide support to Texas church shooting mourners

Billy Graham Rapid Response Team has been in Sutherland Springs since Monday

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas – Family and friends joined in prayer Friday outside First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs at a memorial lined with white crosses.

"I know 12 of these people that were killed personally, and several of the wounded," said Sherrie Bellgoff, who attended the church 11 years ago. 

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Bellgoff, who moved to Arkansas, made the trip to see firsthand what happened.
 
"How could anyone be so cruel as to kill these little children and these wonderful people who were just worshipping God? I can't understand. I know there's evil in the world, but I can't understand it," Bellgoff said.

Joining the mourners were chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team.
  
"We call it a ministry of presence. Sometimes there's nothing else you can do except to be there. 'Let me stand alongside you. Let me walk this path with you,'" said Sharon Folsom, a chaplain.

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The chaplains have been lending support in Sutherland Springs since Sunday. Many of them came from areas devastated by Hurricane Harvey.
 
"People are hurt from a storm like that, but that's property. Property can be replaced. As hard as it is, your heart breaks when someone is homeless. But the loss of life is just a whole different kind of tragedy," Folsom said.

The chaplains said they will be in Sutherland Springs for as long as they're needed.

Related: Latest stories on Texas church shooting


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