CHESTER — Months of planning for Vacation Bible School were destroyed in a single night, but within hours, the community of Chester was already working to put it all back together.
Just one week before the church’s annual Bible school was set to begin, a group of people broke in and vandalized nearly every room in the building.
ANEESA COOMER REPORTS - WATCH:
Handcrafted decorations were ripped apart, Bibles were thrown across the pews, and glass picture frames were scattered along the hallway floors.
“I saw the mess and I screamed,” says Julane Jensen, the Vacation Bible School Coordinator, who discovered the destruction late Wednesday night while dropping off supplies. She says, “It was shock. Shock and devastation.”
Volunteers had been preparing the church since February, building themed rooms for each Bible lesson including a Bible adventure room, game stations, and science experiments.
That entire display, Jensen says, was completely torn down.
She explains, “They went down in the furnace room, tipped over all the flags and American flags, and the nursery right downstairs - they took everything out of every cabinet and drawer and piled chairs up in a big old mess. It was just ridiculous, smashed glass all over the hallway carpet.”
The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office responded that same night, and deputies began collecting evidence.
Despite the shock, the Chester community didn’t hesitate to help. By the next morning, dozens of volunteers showed up to clean and rebuild.
Jensen says, “My phone was just blowing up. People asking ‘can we come and help?, and I can't believe what all these people did in less than half an hour, so it’s pretty amazing. It just shows what our community is about.”
One of the young volunteers, Camron, who helped set up the event and is a participant himself, says, “Some kids who broke in here yesterday just wrecked everything. I was just shook, and like, I was scared. The entire mountain scape was just ruined. Brown paper everywhere.”
So far, more than 30 kids are registered to attend this year’s Vacation Bible School, and organizers say that despite the setback, the program is still on.
Jensen says, “All the months of work and I was like, ‘What am I going to do for Monday?’ But you know what? God came through, sent people, and we're going to have a wonderful Vacation Bible School.”
