A torn, tattered and water-soaked Bible will serve as a reminder for Joan Hoschar how she miraculously survived the deadliest swarm of tornadoes to hit Florida in the state's history.

Standing where their mobile home once stood, West Virginia couple Joan and J.R. Hoschar search for personal belongings.

Alarmed by a weather report warning that a series of twisters was touching down in central Florida, J.R. Hoschar awakened his wife, Joan, on the morning of Feb. 22. Together they fled their mobile home, jumped in their car and headed for the clubhouse at the Ponderosa Park Campground in Kissimmee, Fla.

Finding the building locked, the American Baptist couple then drove to a cement-block bathhouse, where they crouched in a shower stall with another couple while the storm raged. When the winds subsided, an estimated 90 seconds after the tornado's tell-tale roar like a train was heard, they found their winter home of more than 20 years demolished.

Despite their loss, Joan Hoschar reflected, "We were blessed." A next-door neighbor and a close friend were among at least 10 campground residents killed by the storm, which lifted bodies and trailers out of the park and dumped them onto an adjacent turnpike.

The Hoschars lost all possessions except their car, the clothes on their backs and her Bible, which was found among the rubble and taken to the Osceola County Sheriff's office. When she claimed it -- tattered, torn and water soaked -- she determined it will serve as a reminder of that night and her faith in God.

"God works in mysterious ways," said Hoschar, a member of North Parkersburg Church in Parkersburg, W.Va. "My favorite Bible verse says, 'All things work for good for those that love the Lord.' That is such a wonderful comfort. Jesus is our friend and Savior. Aren't we blessed to have Him?"

The storm, blamed on the infamous El Nino weather pattern, produced so many tornadoes in central Florida that weather observers lost count. Some packed winds clocked at 260 miles per hour. In all, 41 people died, 265 were injured and property damage totaled an estimated $67.5 million.

Among those responding to needs of storm victims, Southern Baptist volunteers helped local churches reach out in ministry to their communities.

A group of Florida Baptist volunteers stationed at First Church of Kissimmee helped victims at Ponderosa Park sift through rubble for personal belongings and hang tarps over damaged roofs. The volunteers also offered a sympathetic ear and counsel. All around them lay the carnage of twisted steel, shattered glass and splintered lumber.

The tragedy enabled the survivors to "get their attention off the world to discover that life is very precious," said Ken Woolridge, a Baptist volunteer from West Palm Beach, Fla. He spent four days in the campground helping the victims and befriended a Christian woman who for years prayed for the conversion of her husband, a self-proclaimed atheist. In the hours after the storm, Woolridge led the man to Christ. "He had let the barrier down," said Woolridge.

Four days after the storm, in a location miles from the trailer park but within the same swath of destruction, Baptist disaster-relief volunteers arrived in the Morningside area, only to be ordered to leave because authorities were still looking for bodies. As the volunteers departed, an ambulance passed on its way to the affected area, lights flashing and siren blaring, signaling that search was not in vain.

Nancy Wilder had been in the Morningside area helping a friend when she noticed a man sitting alone on the steps of a demolished home. Bruised and battered, the man described his experiences, telling Wilder that his wife was still hospitalized. As they talked, Wilder learned the couple had been visiting First Church of Kissimmee, where her husband is pastor.

Pastor Tim Wilder was soon at the wife's bedside. "It's a tragedy, but a golden opportunity for us to minister," he said. The Kissimmee congregation experienced no fatalities as a result of the disaster, but five church members lost their homes, including the minister of music, Mark Epperson. Another 20 church members' homes were severely damaged.

After sending out clean-up crews throughout most of the week following the storm, the congregation planned to offer support groups for storm victims. Church members will be trained in grief counseling.

As members of his church rallied to help the tornado victims, Wilder said he once again understood "the importance of church family in times of crisis, as well as the importance of relationship and the unimportance of material things."

Working among twisted steel lodged in trees, smashed cars, crumpled homes and scattered belongings, residents of Winter Garden, Fla., a community with a small-town atmosphere on the outskirts of Orlando, sought to piece together their lives after the killer tornadoes. The congregation of First Church of Winter Garden reported two tornado-related deaths: an 80-year-old long-time church member, Gordon Chandler, and Allie Fulk, who regularly attended church activities.

Within hours after the early morning storm, First Church members began responding to needs of storm victims. A relief center was set up in the church's Spanish mission, Iglesia Bautista de Park Avenue, located adjacent to a hard-hit area.

From there, church members led other Florida Baptist volunteers to knock on doors in the area, assessing damage and needs. Volunteers made sandwiches and chocolate-chip cookies and delivered them to residents who were either without electricity or who refused to leave their homes over fear of possible looting.

Other Baptist volunteers helped residents trim trees, clear debris, cover damaged roofs and sort through the rubble for salvageable belongings. When residents of one large apartment complex were given only 45 minutes to remove any personal belongings, Baptist volunteers pitched in with helping hands and transport vehicles.

"They have lost everything," said volunteer Janet Massey. The Spanish mission became a community-relief flagship and distribution center for food, canned goods, diapers and clothing, donated by local merchants and other concerned persons.

"Our community has become unselfish," said Johnnie Neal, recreation minister at First Church, who coordinated the relief effort. "God supplies, we deliver."

Neal pondered the imponderable "why?" of disasters. "God's sovereignty is seeing it's all a part of a plan," he said. "Although we can't see around the corner, we know who is there."

Hispanic pastor Jose Rivera acknowledged that the church members' response will provide opportunities for the fledgling mission. "This will open doors to the community. We have already had many opportunities to present the gospel."

Similar relief operations were established at Westview Church in Sanford, Fla. A Florida Baptist Convention staff member trained in disaster response was dispatched to each location to provide resources and expertise to the local churches.

"We supplied volunteers and a staff person to walk alongside the churches responding to the needs in their areas," said Jim Brown, director of Florida Baptist Men. "The churches will be there to minister long after the disaster is over and the volunteers have left. For their efforts, these churches will be beacons in their communities.