Video of a team of ministers in Conroe, Texas

has been offering hope to shelter evacuees,

and it's been making the rounds on the internet.

Thousands have been rescued in the Houston area,

and more than 17,000 people have sought

refuge in Texas shelters.

Well, here to share the backstory on what's

being called shelter worship is the man who came up

with the idea, Marquist Taylor.

Marquist, thank you so much for joining us from your home

in Conroe today.

Thank you for having me.

It's a pleasure.

Well, first of all, I understand

that your home was not impacted by Hurricane Harvey,

and yet you still wanted to do something

for people who were affected.

Tell us about--

Absolutely.

--how you came up with shelter worship.

Yes, ma'am.

So the day before all of this kicked off,

I was just thankful that we didn't get, you know,

all of the craziness that everyone else got.

Because neighborhoods around us flooded,

and it was just devastating.

And so, before I go to bed, of course, you pray.

You know, so I was just praying and I was asking God--

I wanted to be sensitive during this time,

and it wasn't about me, or anything else,

but to help people.

I was like, God, how can I impact?

How can I make a difference?

How can I help, other than just, you know, bring in donations

and leave.

I want these people to feel loved,

because they're going through a devastating time.

And I promise you, it was almost immediate

that God gave me shelter worship.

I didn't understand at first.

And He took me to a scripture that

says that He is our shelter and He's our everything.

You know, the time of storm, He'll show us.

So I got on the phone and I called a friend.

I called Victoria.

I said, listen, this is going to sound crazy to you.

I don't have anything in place right now,

I just want you to know that God is giving me shelter worship.

Are you down to come with me?

She was like, sure.

So I call-- there was a number of shelter.

And this is how I know it was a God thing, because when

I got this number, I texted--

the lady's name was Tara.

She's actually a police officer and she was over that shelter.

Well, normally, they wouldn't allow,

you know, religious organizations,

because if it was a-- you know, depending

on what kind of shelter it was.

And so she was over it.

She was the police officer over it,

and then the judge was actually over the whole thing.

And I just said, listen, this is going to sound crazy.

It's not going to make sense.

God told me to do this.

Can we come and do worship, and motivate the people,

and inspire the people, and just give them some joy?

She says, be here tomorrow at 3:00.

Wow.

That's amazing.

So it was crazy.

Yeah.

Well, tell us a little bit more about Victoria White.

I mean, you know, she's the one who people

are seeing leading in worship with that powerful voice.

Yes.

Tell us a little bit more about her.

Sure.

So Victoria and I have been friends 10 years,

and she has been singing her whole life.

And you know, when she opens up her mouth,

everyone has to stop.

You're just like, where is that sound coming from?

And she has this pure sound of worship.

And so that's why I called on her, you know, obviously.

When she opens up her mouth, the whole room is just lit up.

It doesn't matter if it's dark, if it's gray,

it's going to bring some light and love into the room.

She's truly anointed.

Yes.

Definitely a gift from God.

Yes, ma'am.

Well, how have evacuees been responding

to the worship services?

I mean, how have you seen God moving?

Oh, man, so I have to be honest with you.

At first, it was-- you know, I was a little skeptical.

Because you're going into a place

where the people have lost everything,

and the last thing they want to hear

is scriptures and, you know, that God is going to make

a way, you know, in songs.

And I'm like, OK, God, I'm just obeying you.

I don't know how this is going to go.

And so when we started to sing, and there was a moment there

that, after we sung, I was like, listen,

I just want to encourage you guys.

It looks like a tragedy right now,

but I promise you, at the end, it's going to be a triumph.

And you could see their countenance begin to change.

And little kids were beginning to look up.

And I told them to look to the hills, which cometh our help,

because our help doesn't come from material things,

but our help comes from God.

And so when we started speaking to them, and singing,

you could just see, it was just like scales

was falling from their eyes.

You know, people were beginning to cry.

There was a little girl-- this is

what got me-- there was a little girl that, while I was

ministering and giving scripture and a mini-sermon,

she had a little bunny in her hand and it was missing an ear.

And so she was carrying and holding that bunny so tight,

and I just thought about, this is all she has, you know?

This is what's carrying her through.

And so the response was overwhelming.

Like, I felt like I was dreaming.

Like, they really received it well.

So it was definitely a God ordained deal, you know?

Praise God.

So I understand that you were praying with people, too.

And you've actually said that this

has been some of the most powerful ministry

that you've ever been involved with.

Explain what you mean by that.

I have to tell you, so we have a charity here in Conroe.

It's local.

It's called OTHERS Outreach Missions.

And it's an acronym.

It stands for Often, the hurting, everyone rarely sees.

And I didn't know how well it would

fit during this situation, but it was perfect.

So we was able to raise money.

We were able to, you know, pray.

I grew up in church my whole life.

And so, as a Christian, we say, OK, churches, we're

going into a building and we're singing songs.

And we have church fans and, you know, we're dancing

and we're shouting.

But this moment-- And I'm getting choked up talking about

it--

but this moment right here shows that church isn't a building.

That day, we became the church.

I had became the church.

And so, if those people never step foot

into a building, if they never sing a song,

if they never lift their hands, in that moment,

they were in church.

And so we were able to display, and I

was able to display, the love of God

through song, through worship, through scripture,

and through our missions, through our charity.

And so it was just fascinating to see that it

doesn't matter where you are.

It doesn't matter who you are.

It doesn't matter what you drive.

We're all on common ground, and God

could reach anybody anywhere.

Beautiful.

And I love the fact that there's a whole team of you guys.

Yes, ma'am.

There's you and Victoria, and several others.

And Texas really does have a long road ahead,

as far as recovery is concerned.

Right.

What is next for you and the team?

I'm going to be honest with you, we're not stopping.

I'm going to continue to inspire.

We're going to go to as many shelters--

and even after this is over.

Because I think a lot of times we do things in the moment,

because it's needed.

But sometimes the after effect is just as bad

as, you know, what caused it.

And so after this happens, we can't stop motivating.

I didn't know that it was going to go viral.

This is passion.

I'm very passionate about people,

so I'm going to continue to love and pursue people,

and if they need us to sing, if they need us

to preach or minister, whatever, I'm God's hands and feet.

So I'm ready to keep going.

I'm not going to stop now.

Amen.

Well, you talked about singing, and so we

can't say goodbye before asking you,

because your voice is amazing as well--

Thank you so much.

--please, if you wouldn't mind,

just sing something for us real quick.

Sure.

So this is my prayer, and I'll do a little bit of this.

The song says, [SINGING] Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,

open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you.

I want to see you.

To see you high and lifted up, shining

in the light of your glory.

Pour out your power and love, as we sing holy, holy, holy.

Beautiful.

For

Thank you so much.

Marquist Taylor, beautiful.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for shelter worship--

Thank you so much for having me.

--for what you're doing for the evacuees there in Texas.

God bless you.

Our prayers are with you.

Thank you for your time.

God bless you.

Thank you for having me.

See you soon.

Bye-bye.

All right, bye-bye.