March 3, 2019 was a night to remember – and forget – for the Welland “Be in Christ” church. A devastating fire, whipped up by high winds, heavily damaged the church building.
In the midst of frozen water and ashes, the community looked to Christ for hope and restoration. They began the hard work of removing the rubble in order to start anew.
One of the church community was a woman named Mary. She worshipped faithfully, seated in her habitual pew in the church, with her Italian bible stored in the pocket of the pew.
The cleanup was a painful, chilly endeavour. As the volunteers sifted through what remained of their place of worship, Mary’s bible, frozen inside its case, came to light.
The bible was returned to Mary. As it thawed, she opened her precious Bible. Inside the bible, tucked in a Ziploc bag, she found a piece of paper she had long ago slipped inside: the slip of paper said: Fire will not destroy the word of God.
