TULSA, Okla. — A Tulsa church is back open just in time to ring in the new year.
Fire damaged Tulsa’s Nueva Esperanza Methodist Church last week. And less than a week after that fire, the church is back open and singing praises of worship and thankfulness.
Pastor Mark Mann said Tuesday’s fire was a letdown for the members of Nueva Esperanza Methodist Church but its first service since the fire was filled with hope, love and gratefulness.
Mann said he believes something beyond them is why their beloved church is still standing.
“I’m very appreciative of the fact that we still have our building when the fire could’ve crossed the breach into the roof and caused a lot more damage," he said. "So we feel like we had some divine intervention that helped us to be able to keep our building and keep our ministries going."
That ministry includes the food bank that was nearly damaged in the fire. Mann said nothing will keep the congregation of Nueva Esperanza down, and that spirit of resilience comes from the support of the community.
“We reap what we sow and so when we reap what we sow, when we’re sowing into the community with the food bank, literally providing food for them and we have hundreds of families coming through here each month. We are able to just know that when things happen, they’re gonna watch our back and help us,” Mann said.
Associate Pastor Eleazar Guillen said after years of worshipping there, he’s thankful to still have a place to call home.
“I felt blessed because I was worshipping a living God,” Guillen said.
He said despite the fire, the congregation and the church continue to stand strong and hope to continue to grow their faith and the faith of their community.
“I believe God will help us to move forward. And we are working with new families right now and we’re hoping that they will come join us in the future,” Guillen said.
Both pastors said walking through the doors of the sanctuary Sunday morning filled them with joy and gratefulness. They say they’re a strong congregation and their faith is even stronger and the fire and response from the community and church members proves that.
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