GA pastor says ‘do not give the devil any credit’ after 102-year-old church destroyed by lightning

A Georgia Baptist church will have to rebuild after lightning hit it, setting it on fire.

The Savannah Fire Department posted photos on Twitter Monday of the extensive damage done to Central Missionary Baptist Church.

“While we were trying to extinguish the fire, we did have partial collapse on the front of the building where the eaves fell out, which is that brick debris you see in the roadway and that may have caused some shifting of the roof,” Savannah Fire Assistant Fire Chief William Handy told WTOC-TV.

The church is 102-year-old and the fire was contained in about 30 minutes, WSAV-TV said.

Pastor Tyrone Edward was inside the church preparing for Vacation Bible School when the fire started. He told WTGS-TV that the entire sanctuary of the church was filled with water and heavy emotions.

But in a Facebook video message to the church’s congregation, he said “We have insurance, as well as assurance.”

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“Insurance will take care of this. Assurance says God is in the blessing business and he will never go out. So Central, don’t let this get you down.”

He said despite the fire, “We’re still a Baptist church.”

Edward said that the cornerstone of the church is still in place and that you could still see the prayer hands on the front of the church.

“One of the things I want Central to understand is this, God doesn’t make a mistake. Do not give the devil any credit for this,” Edward said. “God still does great and marvelous things.”

He said they are still figuring out where they will have Sunday services, but they will happen and will be posting an update on social media once they figure it out.

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