Painting of Jesus Only Thing To Survive After Blazing Inferno at 150-Year-Old Church
A multiple alarm fire decimated a historic church in Massachusetts on Tuesday night, but by some miracle a painting of Jesus survived the flames almost completely unscathed.
A fire ignited in the First Baptist Church in Wakefield, Massachusetts, after lightning struck the building, burning the majority of the 150-year-old church to ashes.
A painting of Jesus that hung near the church’s entrance somehow survived. Congregants hailed it as a reminder of the living presence and power of Jesus.
“It’s a beautiful sign and a reminder that Jesus is with us,” congregant Maria Kakolowski told Boston’s WFXT-TV.
“I’m personally just taking as a sign and a reminder that the Jesus Christ we serve is still alive and even though our church building is gone, our church is here and the God that we serve is still here,” she added.
The painting sustained a few minor drips, but remains otherwise intact.
The church, however, is another story.
“I was down about a mile away and I just saw this fireball in the sky. It just went up like a tinderbox. It’s a building built in 1870 and and it’s balloon-style so once the fire starts you know the whole building just went up quickly,” Rev. Norm Bendroth, the church’s pastor, told WFXT.
About 100 firefighters fought the blaze, some sustaining minor injuries in the process, and eventually extinguished it.
RIGHT NOW: Crews are currently on the scene of a 5-alarm fire at a church in Wakefield, Mass. https://t.co/MXixsG9Cyj pic.twitter.com/sVfMLpP0Bc
— NBC10 Boston (@NBC10Boston) October 24, 2018
The roof, steeple and interior of the church were reduced to ashes, save for some blackened framing, though much of the exterior walls remain.
The fire caused damages totaling approximately $1 million.
“While we lost our historic building from a lightning strike this week, we praise Jesus that our church community was kept safe. A very big thank you to the many firefighters who did their jobs with excellence, and to the outpouring of support from the community,” a statement from the church read.
“We know that we serve a God who specializes in restoring brokenness and who can bring beauty even from ashes. So we move into the future with trust, hope, and gratitude,” the statement added.
The church is raising funds online in order to rebuild.
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