Church’s Building Fire

“An early morning fire destroyed the sanctuary of the Tidewater Baptist Temple on Campostella Road in Chesapeake.” WTKR.COM

“Firefighters were called to the church at 2:23 a.m. and found heavy smoke and flames coming from the sanctuary when they arrived, said Capt. Mike Thibeault, Fire Department spokesman. The incident commander called for additional personnel and a second alarm was declared. The fire was under control at 3:14 a.m. and declared out by 3:58 a.m. The cause is under investigation (foul play is not suspected). The roof was burned away from the sanctuary area, and the offices also had extensive damage, Thibeault said. There was heavy smoke damage through the building.” VIRGINIA PILOT

“A Chesapeake firefighter was taken to the hospital after he was hurt battling a massive fire that destroyed a church’s sanctuary Wednesday morning. The fire began around 2:30 a.m. at the Tidewater Baptist Temple along 1300 Campostella Road. Captain Mike Thibeault told WAVY.com the firefighter is expected to be okay. He also said when crews first arrived they saw flames and smoke pouring out of the building. Thibeault said a missionary family, including a man, woman and two children, stayed at the church, but managed to get out safely. Firefighters got the fire under control in about and hour and it was completely out an hour and a half after they arrived on scene.” WAVY.COM

We gathered on and off in small groups throughout the day Wednesday, Sep 28th to view a shell of our former church sanctuary. The church building was basically destroyed by a fire that literally lit up the night sky just hours earlier. Thankfully, the church is not the building but a group of called out believers. God has shown himself to be tremendously faithful and merciful. Praise God, the Drylies are safe!Wednesday evening we met outside at the church for our regularly scheduled prayer service. Our service started at the tail-end of a typical Hampton Roads afternoon storm. Just moments before our service was scheduled to start, the sun peeked out behind the church bringing in to view a marvelous sight. Right in front of our building was the most beautiful rainbow. It was a complete arch that reached from one end of the sky to the other. We turned to view our building and saw another amazing sight. Just over the badly burned sanctuary was the most glorious sunset. The same sky that was lit up by fire just 17 hours earlier was now majestic in its view. We gathered under a tarp, some umbrellas, and the front porch of the church. We didn’t bother to count or take attendance but the parking lot looked full and I think we had more than the typical Wednesday crowd. We prayed. We laughed. We sang “Happy Anniversary” to the Pauls. It was their 50th. We ended the service with “To God be the Glory.” We are not sure where we’ll meet on Sunday. But we are sure that God is in control and that He will get the glory through all of this.