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'I was speechless' | Jacksonville church destroyed by tornadoes just months after being paid off

Despite the damage, Pastor Eddie Miller is relying on faith and community.

JACKSONVILLE, Ark. — Meteorologists are describing the storms that moved through Arkansas on Friday as "catastrophic" and one day later, residents and rescue crews are surveying the damage. 

Five people have died after at least two confirmed tornadoes moved through Little Rock, Wynne, Jacksonville and other towns.

The storm has destroyed homes, businesses and left many without power. 

THV11 spoke with the pastor of one church in Jacksonville that sustained heavy damage from Friday's tornado.

Eddie Miller, the pastor of Jacksonville Jubilee District church, spoke with THV11 as he surveyed the damage outside the church that they built five years ago. Miller said that they just finished paying off the church last December.

READ MORE: How to help people impacted by Arkansas storms

"We just finished paying the church off in December was the last note. Everybody's excited, happy," said Miller. "We built a sanctuary five years ago, paid it off. We owe nothing on the church, it was completely paid off. So we was ecstatic about that."

But after receiving an alarming call from a friend, Miller went to check on the church and found it completely destroyed. 

"And when I turned the corner and saw the church, I was speechless, man. Knock, knock the air out of my sails," Miller said. 

But Miller is confident that faith, community and strength will prevail during this difficult time. While the structure may be destroyed, the church remains strong and intact. 

"And we know that God has something better and greater. Will he allow something like this to happen? So we just depend on him for our faith is strong," Miller said.

The next step for Miller is to mobilize community leaders, pull the community together, survey what needs to be done and address the problems.

"So I have no, no doubt that we're going to survive this and we're going to come back even stronger and better. We'll just pull together as a community and help one another and get it done."



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