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SAN SABA—Marsha was in desperate need. Her San Saba home was swamped during the July 2025 floods that swept through the Texas Hill Country, overflowing the banks of the San Saba River and inundating the town.
Still reeling from that summer disaster, Marsha faced yet another devastating challenge when her husband died unexpectedly on Christmas Day.
Help came in the form of Southern Baptists of Texas Disaster Relief volunteers partnering with First Baptist Church of San Saba. Texas Rebuild teams from SBTC DR began arriving in early January to continue the repair of Marsha’s home that had begun earlier.
Immediately following the initial July disaster, SBTC DR teams rapidly deployed to San Saba, partnering with First Baptist in clean-up and recovery efforts. They removed soggy sheetrock and damaged flooring, performed mold remediation, shoveled mud and debris from dozens of homes, and shared the love of Jesus with the community.
Rebuilding had to wait until after the floodwaters receded and the land dried out.
Their home still uninhabitable through the fall and beginning of winter, Marsha and her husband were living in a travel trailer on their property, said SBTC DR task force member Jesse Hauptrief, unit director of the First Baptist Melissa crew serving in San Saba. Marsha’s husband wandered outside the travel trailer and into the still-damaged house on Dec. 25, where he collapsed and died.
Hauptrief shared Marsha’s story with the First Baptist Melissa team—consisting of volunteers from across the state—so they could be sensitive to her loss. “They needed to know her story. We worked with her. She came to the house several times and was pleased with the progress. A team from First Baptist Farmersville came in after we left and finished almost all of the house.”
Hauptrief added that the Farmersville team focuses on rebuilding, whereas his crew featured “chainsaw guys” converted into rebuilders. “Normally we tear stuff up,” he said with a laugh, highlighting the differences between rebuilding and relief work.
This time, they put things back together.
Volunteers helped finish work on Marsha’s home rebuild by installing chair molding and hardwood flooring that she had acquired. They installed cabinets and rebuilt a dangerously rickety porch.
“We were afraid the porch would fall in when any of us stood on it,” SBTC DR volunteer Paul Wood said. “We took it down and put up a nice, durable porch and stairs.” He added with a chuckle, “If a tornado hits, that porch will still be there.”
Of more eternal significance, the team shared the gospel with Marsha. “She was receptive,” Wood said. “She listened to what we were saying about Jesus’ love and that’s what we’re here for. The work comes secondary to that.”
Disaster rarely takes a holiday
From late December 2025 through January 2026, a veteran SBTC DR team from Flint Baptist Church also served in San Saba in addition to the Melissa crew and the new Farmersville rebuild team.
SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice called the San Saba rebuild the most successful to date. Rebuild follows on the heels of relief and can be difficult to organize, he added.
“It’s exciting. It’s gone very well,” Stice said, also praising the “outstanding” assistance from First Baptist San Saba.
Still, disaster rarely takes a holiday.
SBTC DR shower teams are currently deployed at sites around Monroe and Delhi, La., assisting first responders, volunteers, and churches helping the community following late January ice storms.
“That work, too, is going well,” Stice said, adding that SBTC DR chainsaw teams are scheduled to deploy to Louisiana and Tennessee to serve the ice storm survivors by removing downed trees—sharing their skills and their Savior.
For more information about SBTC DR, or to get involved, visit sbtexas.com/disaster-relief.
