{"id":252513,"date":"2026-04-16T12:32:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T12:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/252513\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T12:32:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T12:32:06","slug":"camp-mystic-director-breaks-down-in-tears-during-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/252513\/","title":{"rendered":"Camp Mystic director breaks down in tears during trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/a> <\/p>\n

Testimony in the Camp Mystic evidential hearing concluded<\/a> yesterday in an Austin courtroom. The lawsuit was brought<\/a> by the family of eight-year-old Cile Steward, who died in the July 4, 2025, flood and whose body has not been recovered. Her family is fighting<\/a> attempts to reopen the camp until her remains are found.<\/p>\n

Edward Eastland, a director of the rural Christian summer camp, broke down in tears<\/a> in the courtroom when asked about Cile. His father, camp patriarch Dick Eastland, died in the flood, as did two teenage counselors and twenty-five young campers. Only Cile\u2019s remains are still missing.<\/p>\n

Dick and his wife traveled with me to Israel twice; he was one of the most gracious, loving people I have known. I know his family is still grieving his death and that of so many in this horrific tragedy.<\/p>\n

Nine Camp Mystic families are also suing<\/a> Texas officials after the deaths of their children.<\/p>\n

If my granddaughter had perished at the camp <\/p>\n

Of all the kinds and categories of human suffering there are, the death of a child must rank as the worst. For other types of pain and tragedy, we can find responses that seem reasonable, at least on paper. You\u2019re likely familiar with the most common:<\/p>\n

When we misuse our freedom, the consequences are not God\u2019s fault but ours (cf. Genesis 2:17). We experience diseases and disasters that are the fault of the Fall, not the Creator (Romans 8:22). Satan is a \u201croaring lion\u201d who seeks to \u201csteal and kill and destroy\u201d (1 Peter 5:8; John 10:10). Suffering often leads us to rely more fully on God and thus to grow spiritually (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:7\u201310). We will understand in the future what we cannot understand in the present (1 Corinthians 13:12). God walks with us through our floods and fires (Isaiah 43:1\u20133). Our all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving Father redeems all he allows for his glory and our good (cf. Romans 8:28). <\/p>\n

But if my granddaughter had perished at Camp Mystic and her body was never recovered, I can assure you that none of these \u201cexplanations\u201d would explain her death or be sufficient for my grief.<\/p>\n

Since my granddaughter and the rest of my family are mortal, I must face the fact that any of them could die today. What happened to Job could happen to any family (Job 1:13\u201319).<\/p>\n

If such a tragedy were to befall us, I could do what Job\u2019s wife encouraged him to do: \u201cCurse God and die\u201d (Job 2:9). I could decide, as C. S. Lewis feared<\/a> he might after his wife died of cancer: \u201cThe conclusion I dread is not \u2018So there\u2019s no God after all,\u2019 but \u2018So this is what God\u2019s really like. Deceive yourself no longer.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Like some \u201copen theists,\u201d I could abandon<\/a> my belief that God is all-knowing and thus knows the future, concluding that he did not know about the Camp Mystic flood beforehand and thus did not prevent it. Like Rabbi Harold Kushner and many others, I could abandon<\/a> my belief that God is all-powerful, concluding that he does not intervene in nature and thus could not prevent the tragedy. Like most world religions<\/a> across history, I could abandon my belief that God is all-loving, concluding that Cile Steward\u2019s death and that of others who perished that terrible night fell outside his scope of concern.<\/p>\n

Such conclusions have their appeal. In some ways, it is easier psychologically to give up hope than to sustain it against all odds. There\u2019s a part of me that would much prefer to resolve the apparent contradiction of believing in an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving deity who nonetheless allows such horrific suffering in the world he created.<\/p>\n

Upon reflection, I realize this is how I feel about this problem of all problems.<\/p>\n

A sentiment I am not accustomed to making public <\/p>\n

It never occurs to me to wonder if God knows all that happens or will happen, or if he is omnipotent in his capacities. When he allowed my father\u2019s heart condition and early death, my son\u2019s cancer, and my grandson\u2019s leukemia, my visceral reaction was not that he did not know about their disease or was not powerful enough to intervene.<\/p>\n

It was the fact that for some reason he chose not to do so. And choice speaks to character, in this case the biblical claim that \u201cGod is love\u201d (1 John 4:8). Since my love for my family would absolutely compel me to prevent or heal their suffering, I struggle to understand why his does not.<\/p>\n

This is not a sentiment I, as a professional minister, am accustomed to making public. But it is the truth of the situation, however subliminal and visceral. I suspect you might know what I mean.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the good news: Even when I question my Father\u2019s love, he loves me so much that he welcomes my doubts (Isaiah 1:18) and speaks to my heart out of his, often in ways I could never anticipate.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll close with an example.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he loves you like no one else can\u201d <\/p>\n

Yesterday, my wife and I went for lunch to a seafood restaurant we had not tried. It turned out we were in the minority\u2014the restaurant was so crowded that we had to take a table outside and share it with someone we did not know. Our new friend was very kind, welcoming us to sit beside her. As we began to talk, she shared some of her story with us.<\/p>\n

What a story it is.<\/p>\n

She was in town to take her father to his chemotherapy treatment. Her husband died of dementia two years earlier. She has lupus and deals every day with significant symptoms and suffering. And yet the joy of the Lord was prominent in her countenance and conversation.<\/p>\n

At one point I asked how she was making it through these hard days. She smiled and said, \u201cOnly God.\u201d I asked why she continued to trust him despite her challenges, and she replied, \u201cBecause he loves you like no one else can.\u201d She explained that people can turn on you, but he never will. People can fail you, but he never can.<\/p>\n

It is her decision to trust in God\u2019s love, despite all she faces each day, that positions her to experience that love each day.<\/p>\n

Will you choose to make the same decision today?<\/p>\n

Quote for the day: <\/p>\n

\u201cAll fear is but the notion that God\u2019s love ends.\u201d \u2014Ann Voskamp<\/p>\n

Our latest website resources: \"Share <\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Testimony in the Camp Mystic evidential hearing concluded yesterday in an Austin courtroom. The lawsuit was brought by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,5575,95497,95498,95499,95500,15778],"class_list":{"0":"post-252513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news","11":"tag-grief","12":"tag-omnibenevolence","13":"tag-omnipotence","14":"tag-omnipresence","15":"tag-suffering","16":"tag-tragedy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}