AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Last month a historic church in Burke County opened its doors to a shock.
Shattered glass, holes in the roof, destroyed bathrooms, and more. Three juveniles were charged as a result.
As for the pastor and his congregation, they were heartbroken.
When news broke about the damage, strangers from across the area offered services and dropped off donations to Blount Hill Baptist Church. Now they are laying out a plan to get the church back on its feet.
Blount Hill Baptist Church has been a part of the Waynesboro community for the last 100 years, serving as the place more than 30 people call their church home.
That was until three juveniles turned it upside down.
The pastor says the community is pouring out hands of hope to rebuild and he’s calling them “God’s angels”.
“It’s been kind of terrible but I still ain’t let it worry me,” said Reverend Louis Williams, pastor of Blount Hill Baptist Church.
Instead, Williams says he is choosing to see the beauty in between the broken debris scattered throughout his church.
“Because we are not supposed to worry about material things. Now you can tear down a church to the building, but it can’t tear the church, you can burn down the building, but you can’t tear down the church. It’s in the heart,” said Williams.
It led him to people like Pat Taylor and Lethe Cheney.
“I saw it on Facebook, on the news section. And I just followed the trend to catch it on TV for rebroadcast of it,” said Taylor, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Taylor says she along with those at her church is ready to dive in to bless others the way God has blessed them.
“It was destroyed. I just couldn’t help but feel sad that someone no matter what age they are. Either hasn’t been taught or disregards what they have been taught to be reverent of the Lord’s house and to treat it in the way that it is expected to be treated,” she said.
Williams says many community members continue to give anything from time to money.
“That’s what I call love. Love is an action word. Everybody talks about love but when you start showing action that’s love right there,” said Williams.
There is still a lot to do.
Lethe Cheney, Waynesboro Ward Relief Society president, said: “There’s broken glass and matches, just strewn all over the place. It’s not safe for people to be in there walking around. There’s no electricity. There are lighting fixtures and ceiling fans. It needs to be replaced. The AC, he told us, is broken.”
They are tackling renovations head-on.
“We’re ready to get to work. I know there are other churches and organizations that have reached out. So now we need to coordinate our efforts and be like, okay, so what can you handle? What can we do? So that we can just pull together as a community to get it done,” said Cheney.
At the end of the day, Williams is calling it a blessing in disguise.
“I believe. I believe in my heart this is a blessing. God saw of blessing. We’re gonna get it fixed up and get it cleaned up. That’s a blessing all by itself,” said Williams.
Reverend Williams says the next step is working with all of the organizations that have reached out to him to begin renovations.
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