“These people are hurting deeper, the most deep hurt that can be. And they need to grieve and they need to be loved,” said Lavonda Koons.
MESQUITE, Texas — The Fourth of July nightmare still haunting the Texas Hill Country is one that a Mesquite pastor and his wife have been enduring now for 38 years.
But they hope the lessons learned from the tragedy they survived can help those who are grieving now.
“It’s crushing to know that they are still looking and hoping,” Richard Koons told WFAA. It’s brutal. It’s absolutely brutal,” he said of the disaster, the death toll, and the searches that continue. “We pray like crazy for these guys. I know ours was devastating with 10 students, but this magnitude is unfathomable.”
On July 17, 1987, Richard was a 26-year-old pastor at Seagoville Road Baptist Church. They were leaving the Pot O’ Gold Ranch youth camp in Comfort along the Guadalupe River.
“He was driving, I was sitting right behind him, ” his wife Lavonda, said.
Their bus stalled in a foot of water, trapping them and a church van that was following them. There were 43 campers in all. They chose to form a human chain on foot to head to higher ground. But then, as the Guadalupe did again this July, the flash flood arrived in 10-foot waves.
“The water just started pushing people down the river. What now has become a massive wall of water,” Richard said.
Several clung to a large tree but had to let go as the bus, now carried by the fast-rushing water, hurtled toward them.
“I remember thinking, this is my day, I’m going to die today. I truly thought I was going to die, so I gave up,” said Lavonda, who says she instead floated to the surface, was able to grasp a small tree, and hang on until rescuers arrived by boat.
Thirty-three of their group were rescued by boat, by military helicopter, and even with the help of a local news helicopter. But 10 teenagers died, one of whom was never found.
“There were many nights we cried ourselves to sleep because back then we weren’t given the opportunity for counseling,” Richard said. “You just toughen up and do the best you can.”
They agreed to talk to WFAA about this again as a message and offer of support to all those grieving now.
“We’re willing to help if we can. We would love to help if we can,” Lavonda said. “The loss is so big and it’s deep and it never goes away. It never goes away, but you learn to live with it.”
“These people are hurting deeper, the most deep hurt that can be. And they need to grieve, and they need to be loved. And for the family and friends, do it, just surround them and love them,” she said.
Their story of survival and their battle with their own grief is part of their ministry.
“That’s really what’s gotten us through, our faith and our family, and our friends,” added Richard.
“And to those sweet people who went through it and survived, you still have a life to live,” said Lavonda.
The couple’s E3 ministry stands for ” Evangelism, Edification, and Encouragement.”
“Hold onto your faith. I think that’s important in these moments,” Richard said.
This time, an even more catastrophic moment is testing hope and faith again.
