Wesbank pastor devastated after church fire and theft

A pastor in Wesbank has been left devastated after he received a call that his church has been broken into and set alight during the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Pastor Godfrey Moore from Faithful Ministries, which was situated on the corner of Adcock and Cotswold Street, said that he has had his church in Wesbank for a year and this is the first time his church was targeted.

He said: “It is just sad. We still had a church service on Tuesday evening and around 1am during the early hours of Wednesday morning I received a call that the church is alight. When I got to the church I saw it was burning and there was no way of stopping the fire.

"It seems the church was first robbed then set alight. We had about 60 plastic chairs in the church and 24 iron chairs. We found the iron frames from the iron chairs but there is no sign of burned plastic from the plastic chairs.

"We do not see the music instruments such as the mics, sound system, wires and three speakers. I am not sure why they targeted the church and I also don’t know where the music instruments are sold to.”

Moore said that the church was in a wendy house as the idea was to start building soon. He said he got a donation from a good Samaritan who blessed him with 50 chairs.

He said: “It was a community church where residents living in the area attended. The church mostly has pensioners who are dependent on their Sassa grant. My purpose for the church was so that more people can have Christ in their lives. 

"We are going to continue with doing the Lord’s work. We will be having church at my house on Sunday.

"The church was so ideal because on a Sunday morning when we play music then the skollies used to sit around the church.

"I still can’t get it over my heart as to how someone can do this but at this point any form of donations to get the church on the go will assist."

"The Fire and Rescue Service received the call at 1:55 of a dwelling alight in Cotswold street,  Wesbank on September 10.  Two firefighting vehicles from the Belhar and  Mfuleni Fire Stations responded. Upon arrival, crews found one wood and iron structure alight. It was reported that the structure was used as a church."

"The structure was completely destroyed by the fire. One formal dwelling was partially damaged as a result of the fire. No injuries or fatalities were reported."

Moore is appealing for any building material and sound equipment to please contact him on 0619683010.

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