Camp Mystic director dies trying to save kids during flood

A powerful storm caused the Guadalupe River in the Texas Hill Country to rise twenty-six feet in forty-five minutes before dawn Friday, washing away homes and vehicles. Camp Mystic, a nearly century-old Christian camp for girls, was in the path of the flood.

At least eleven of its young female campers and counselors died in the flooding. Ten campers and one counselor from the camp were still missing at the time of writing.

In Kerr County, where the camp is located, the floods killed at least sixty-eight people, including twenty-eight children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said yesterday. In total, at least eighty are dead and many more are missing, according to officials.

I know there are tragedies elsewhere this morning, from wildfires in Crete and California, to another mass shooting in Chicago, to a devastating heatwave in Hungary and China. And I know that flash floods like the one that swept through central Texas can happen anywhere and are, in fact, the nation’s top storm-related killer.

But this is different for me because it is personal for me.

“Dick was the father figure to all of us”

Dick Eastland and his wife have owned Camp Mystic since 1974 and have been with me to Israel twice. He was one of the most loving, gracious people I know.

When the flood hit, he died trying to save some of the children.

A camp counselor said Dick was among the “most selfless men in the whole world. He was an inspiration to so, so many. He was a father figure, a comforting force in the uncertainty of everything.”

A former camper added in a tribute to him, “Dick was the father figure to all of us . . . He was the father of four amazing boys, but he had hundreds of girls each term who looked up to him like a dad.” She added, “It doesn’t surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers. He had already saved so many lives with the gift of Camp Mystic.”

It is hard to imagine how this could be more tragic. A Christian camp with 750 innocent, precious children was devastated by a disaster they did nothing to cause. Many others in the area were killed by flooding on our nation’s birthday. There are families this morning who do not yet know if their children are alive.

But this story is all our story on some level. My granddaughter is the same age as some of the girls who died. A dear friend of mine is battling a recurrence of cancer that breaks my heart. We all face grief and pain that we do not understand.

“Weep with those who weep”

Tomorrow I plan to focus on the questions we ask at times like this. If Jesus could cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46), we can ask the hardest questions in the hardest times of life.

But today I’d like to center on the practical. How would the Lord want us to respond personally to this horrible tragedy?

Jesus taught us to love God “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). Let’s apply all four to this horrible tragedy as we seek to “love your neighbor as yourself” (v. 31).

Heart: Join God as he grieves with and for all those affected by this devastating disaster. As Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus (John 11:35), so we “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15), including our Lord. Feel his grief for these precious children and families and respond to their suffering with the compassion of Christ.

Soul: “Be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12), interceding fervently to the One who is interceding for them right now (Romans 8:34).

Mind: Continue to believe that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and that circumstances cannot change his character. Know that one day we will know what we do not know today (1 Corinthians 13:12) and pray for the faith to have faith (Mark 9:24).

Strength: “Contribute to the needs of the saints” (Romans 12:13). My wife and I have already donated to Texans On Mission; they are responding to the tragedy and are one of the finest ministries I know. Pray about ways you can support them or other groups who are helping those in crisis. Seek ways to “comfort all who mourn” in the power of the Spirit (Isaiah 61:1, 2).

In the face of all we do not know, Paul testified that “faith, hope, and love abide” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Choose all three and hold them out to the world.

“What gives me the most hope every day”

One day “the Lᴏʀᴅ will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended” (Isaiah 60:20). One day “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

But today is not that day.

Today is a day to grieve, but not to “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). This is because when we can find hope nowhere else, we can say to our Father, “My hope is in you” (Psalm 39:7).

Rick Warren, who lost his son to suicide, said, “What gives me the most hope every day is God’s grace, knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face.”

Now we can claim the same hope.

I cannot put into words the horror of this tragedy. I can hardly look at pictures of the devastation, much less imagine what today is like for so many grieving souls.

But as Emily Dickinson said, hope “perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words.” Even when we feel pain that has no words, with the assurance of our Father’s love and the help of his Spirit, our hearts can sing the tune of hope.

This is the invitation, and the promise, of God.

Quote for the day:

“God has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer his embrace.” —Joni Eareckson Tada

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