LAFOLLETTE, Tenn. — A peek inside of Faith Way Assembly of God in LaFollette shows a very detailed picture of how Friday night's rain affected parts of Campbell County.
"Well we're really devastated because you don't expect something like this could happen," Pastor Steve Bruce said.
Friday night into Saturday morning three to five inches of rain fell in a matter of hours, causing flash flooding. Much of that water seeped into the church and left mud, damaged furniture and water lines peaking inches above the doorway.
"Especially doing the work of the lord, you wonder why you have to do these things," Bruce said.
As for the state of the church he said there is a lot of work to do.
"Pretty much a total loss I think right now we're just going to try to take it a step at a time," he said.
The majority of the water is gone but it still left its mark on the building just about everywhere.
"We're gonna salvage what we can if there's anything we can salvage," he said.
Bruce believes the process will take some time but it is time he and his congregation are willing to take.
"Step by step to get it back to where we can use it again, rebuild," Bruce said.
On Saturday as soon as the water receded, church members were already there but their support didn't come without some emotion.
"We've had a lot of folks come out today, they've been very supportive," he said. "They are hurt but they believe in God."
Believing in God is something the pastor said will pull the county through.
"You know God has a plan that's bigger than ours," he said.
Now he and his congregation are just asking for a few kind words of faith.
"With faith in God we believe that we're gonna be okay we're gonna make it," Bruce said. "They would just lift us up and believe God is with us and that we're gonna make it through."