How One Church Survived Tornado

JACKSON, Tenn., Feb. 10, 2008— -- It is an agonizing time for many families who lost their homes and are also burying their loved ones, but the members of at least one church congregation are counting their blessings.

More than 30 people died in Tennessee, including 75-year-old Walter Ables, who was laid to rest near Savannah. His daughter said he was a stubborn man who refused to leave his mobile home. His hands were found clenched to a kitchen chair; what remains of his home is now twisted around a tree.

Nearby, 74-year-old Henry Hunsinger also died in his mobile home. His family has been searching through rubble, trying to save what documents and memories the tornado did not take.

In Jackson, the Lighthouse United Pentecostal Church sits empty and in ruins. The roof is collapsed, the pulpit is buried under debris, but Pastor Donald Lance says, "We don't have a tragedy here, I have a testimony."

Lance held Sunday services in space donated by the nearby Northside Assembly Church. In his sermon Lance said, "You can replace the building but you cannot replace families."

As he gave a tour of the remains of the church, Lance said he had regularly scheduled services on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m., the exact time the tornado struck. He said it may have been divine inspiration that caused him to cancel those services just hours before the storm hit the city.

But when the tornado hit Lighthouse Pentecostal Church, Lance, his wife and two children and a dozen friends were inside the large structure. They managed to find shelter and all survived by hiding in a concrete closet in the church's gymnasium.

"You could hear the roar and you could feel the wall shaking and you could hear the hail coming down and three seconds later it was over," he said.

Then he went into the sanctuary and saw his pulpit "was upside down, we actually pulled it out and I thank God that we were not inside."

At a time when funerals are being held for the victims of the torandos, Lance said,

"Somebody could be preaching my funeral or I could be preaching a lot of funerals in the next week or so and I am not," he said. "We just got to rebuild a building."

The church has insurance and volunteers have come from across the country to save pews, stained glass windows and Bibles.

Lance says it could take more than a year to rebuild, but says he has the support of the congregation. Members of the Lighthouse United Pentecostal Church know that their building is in ruins but say their church sits on sacred ground.