A sight to behold — A texas community was left in awe after a devastating fire burned down a historic church except for a lone wooden cross left standing in the rubble.
Pastor Sonny Smith of the Balsora Baptist Church sees the incident as a sign of God watching over his congregation as they begin rebuilding.
“The fire itself was heartbreaking. To go there and find out that a church that had been there over 100 years had burned up, and so the first part was really devastating but I’ll tell you that when we saw that cross standing there it gave us hope and it lifted our spirits and let us know that Jesus is still with us,” Pastor Smith told NewsNation
Balsora Baptist Church in Wise County burned down, Friday — but the sanctuary cross remains standing. Tonight on @FOX4 News after the @CleGuardians/@Dodgers game, you’ll hear from the pastor — who still plans to preach service, tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/qiPoFhtZbq
— David Sentendrey (@DavidSFOX4) June 19, 2022
Some of the church communities say it’s a sign God is truly there with them even through difficult times. The fire started as the church was undergoing some renovations to expand its kitchen and fellowship hall.
The crew that was carrying out the renovations had stepped out for lunch when the building reportedly caught fire.
Pastor Smith noted that the men who responded to the fire were members of the volunteer fire department. He said that when an incident like that happens, it can take the responders a while to get there and salvage the situation since the church is seven miles away from the nearest city.
The contractors working on the roof of the Balsora Baptist Church took a lunch break, upon returning they found the building on fire.
The church was completely destroyed except for a lone cross in the sanctuary seen standing among the smoke and ruin.https://t.co/990azjMTd3
— NPR (@NPR) June 20, 2022
“It’s a dramatic event for the whole community because we’re about seven miles from the nearest larger city. We’re kind of out in the middle of the country. So I knew how important the church was to a lot of people,” Pastor Smith told Christian Post.
Apart from a stack of Bibles, all that survived the fire was a wooden cross. Pastor Smith explained that the church sanctuary used to have a prayer tree where congregation members could hang their prayer requests. By that tree, there was a cross.
“We put our prayer request on that cross and a church member had built that several months back so we would hang our prayer request on it,” He told NewsNation
As per reports, the fire broke out just before 1 p.m., and a couple of first responders suffered minimal heat-related injuries and were treated on the scene by the Wise County EMS.
The church has set up a GoFundMe and has managed to raise $2,516 out of the $100,000 goal as of Monday morning. The fundraiser indicates that “the church does have insurance, but it’s likely to not pay enough to rebuild the building AND resupply the church (Bibles, hymnals, choir robes, office equipment, etc).”
With all the negative news on social media, I believe a little bit of faith can go a long way in today’s world of uncertainty.
