HTC rebounds after church is vandalized
| WJLA – Prince William Church Cleans Up After Crime, Moves On |
Shock, bewilderment and determination were just a few of the feelings that swept through the members of Holiness Tabernacle Church Of God In Christ upon receiving the news that their place of worship had been broken into, sometime between the evening of Sunday, July 8 and the morning of Monday, July 9.
Upon his arrival, the destruction was evident to Pastor Pruitte. “The glass to our main entrance had been totally removed and tossed on to the parking lot. Another entrance had the glass shattered.”
The damage inside the normally peaceful walls of the church was even greater. Intruders kicked in office doors, broke a sliding glass window in the administrative office, destroyed a television and DVD player in the children’s classroom and used a knife to carve up a computer screen. However, they did not stop there. A business laptop, belonging to one of the members, was stolen and both church vans’ windows were smashed.
To see the defacement of the Lord’s house was heartbreaking. First Lady Vivian Valdez Pruitte couldn’t believe what she saw. “When I first saw [the damage from] the break-in my heart dropped. I was trying to figure out who would possibly want to harm a church. A church is an institution that helps the community and to think anybody would do any kind of damage or harm to a church was just beyond me.”
According to Pastor Pruitte, there appeared to be neither rhyme nor reason behind the incident. It was simply an unnecessary act of vandalism. Minus the stolen laptop and the interior damage sustained, nothing else was taken and surprisingly, not a single item within the sanctuary itself had been disturbed. “It was just puzzling,” said Pastor Pruitte, “but I believe God confused the intruders so they couldn’t do any more damage that what they did. “
Pastor Pruitte admits that when he first saw the destruction, a lot went through his mind. “I was flustered with thoughts,” said Pastor Pruitte. “How did they get in? Why didn’t the alarm system go off? Why weren’t we notified? Why did they do what they did?”
But the time to dwell on those questions came to an abrupt halt as the local Police Department arrived to conduct their investigation, followed quickly by members of the community who come by monthly to receive food from the church’s in-house food pantry.
For nearly three days, people in need of the nourishing food that Holiness Tabernacle consistently delivers every second Tuesday came by the church, only to be turned away because of the break-in. Although the break-in was disappointing, it was the not being able to provide food to the people of his community that hurt Pastor Pruitte much more. If anything, the sad events that occurred earlier this week only emphasized the importance of having a Spirit-led and missions-minded church in the Woodbridge community.
“As a church, we were determined to rebound, fix what was messed up and keep going because we can’t stop. When you see the type of impact that you have on people and you know that you’re filling and meeting a need, you can’t let one act throw you off and shut you down. Greater is He that is in me than he that his in the world. That comes to the surface.”
Pastor Pruitte says that Holiness Tabernacle refuses to be intimidated and will take necessary steps to keep trespassers out and discourage them from returning to do harm on the church. “We are not going to stop what God has mandated us to do and that is to serve this community. If the saints of old could endure hardship like a good soldier… being shot, put in jail or being injured… if they can go through that and keep going, my Lord, shame on us if we stop. And we’re not stopping. We’re still going strong.”
In light of recent events, Holiness Tabernacle has rescheduled this month’s food pantry distribution for Wednesday, July 18. The mobile food bank will resume at its regular schedule later this month. For information on both the church’s food pantry and mobile food pantry, or on how you can lend your support, please contact the church at 703.497.7928.