Cowboy church pastor saw God’s provision in storm

FIRM Baptist Area Director of Missions Charles Cole and 50 other volunteers helped pastor Kevin Mahr repair his home after a storm. (Photos: George Henson)

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LEXINGTON—After a March storm ripped apart Kevin Mahr’s home, he and his family found refuge in the love of God’s people.

A storm woke Mahr around midnight March 19. Standing on his front porch, he saw hailstones as large as his fist pummel his vehicles and heard them slam into the roof.

lexington storm mahr300The home of Kevin Mahr, pastor of the Cowboy Church of Lee County in Giddings, was ripped apart by a storm March 19.Before he could turn back inside, that roof began to tear away.

He, his wife, Carole, and infant granddaughter found shelter in a closet until the storm passed.

Soon after, he walked down the road to check on a nearby family who lived in a trailer. Although high winds ripped apart his home, the trailer was undamaged.

When he made the walk back home, he noticed he had stepped over a fallen electrical line without seeing it.

“It was just another evidence of how God had kept us safe through the storm,” said Mahr, pastor of the Cowboy Church of Lee County in Giddings since 2009.

His church members helped him tear down what was left of the home, and then rebuilding began.

Since he was starting from scratch, he decided to expand the 850-square-foot home to provide more space for his granddaughter. Since that time, he also has been given custody of his 7-month-old grandson, as well.


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The previous home was not insured, but Mahr sold property in Missouri, and also received financial aid from the Baptist General Convention of Texas, FIRM Baptist Area, the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches and individual churches.

Individuals donated their skills, time and labor to the building project.

Others have provided the Mahr family a place to live in the interim. The Mahrs first lived in a borrowed recreational vehicle on their property until the owners needed it. Next, they moved into the home of a church member who was in a physical rehabilitation center.

Relying on God

“We’ve been through a lot of life changes in the last six months, but we’ve relied on God to keep us moving forward every day,” Mahr said.

He finds great encouragement in the love his family has been shown.

“It’s through the body of Christ—who are Christ’s eyes, hands, feet and mouth here on earth—that this is getting done,” Mahr said.

FIRM Baptist Area Director of Missions Charles Cole noted people have been eager to help.

“I represent four associations made up of 87 churches spread across seven counties, so most of them don’t know Kevin. But the people here are very caring and have a great desire to help where they know there is a need,” he said.

About 50 volunteers worked on the house, and others provided financial resources.

One man who has never met Mahr agreed to pay for all the remaining expenses of rebuilding the home.

Taking the worry out

“That took the worry out of how we were going to pay for things,” said Cole, who admitted money had run out before the project was completed.

The church is supposed to function by everyone joining together, he pointed out.

“It makes me proud of the fact that we are one family,” he said. “We are the church of God. It’s not 87 different churches. We are one church, united in Jesus Christ.”


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