January 7, 2011

At approximately 1 a.m. on Thursday, December 30, a massive fire broke out in Pine Forest Assembly's Education and Administration building. Reverend Gene Hudson, who pastors the Cantonment, Florida, church, reports that the fire resulted in the total loss of the 4,660 sq. foot facility.

Hudson says the fire started in the closet where the building's air conditioning and heating units were located, but authorities are still trying to determine the exact cause. Pine Forest Assembly's sanctuary, which is located in a separate building, was not damaged, but the youth and fellowship building, which was connected to the education and administration building, will not be able to be used for at least a month due to smoke damage and loss of power. Once power is disconnected from the burned portion and the youth building is cleaned, the church will resume using that area.

In the meantime, Wednesday and Sunday night youth services will be held in the church's large foyer area. Children's church will meet in another building on the church grounds.

Despite the devastating loss and the subsequent adjustments to church services, the Pine Forest Assembly congregation of approximately 150 people remains positive.

Hudson says, "The heart cry of the people has been, ‘It is well.' We will rebuild and come back stronger, but we covet your prayers, as well. Support has been pouring in from across the nation and around the world; our missionary friends and others."

Of everything that was destroyed inside the education and administration building, Hudson says one of the greatest losses is the "Elisha Room" that the church recently established. This apartment-style room had been built to allow missionaries a comfortable place to stay as needed. A newly appointed missionary couple to a sensitive country had been storing their belongings there as they traveled across the U.S. to finish raising their funds.

"I had to call this young couple to tell them everything they and their newborn owned, except the clothes they had with them, had been destroyed," Hudson recounts. When the couple went through the rubble several days later, "all they could talk about was this loss had removed any ties that held them to this land, freeing them to go to where God had called them."

Pine Forest Assembly had hosted an Angel Food Ministries program in the building that was destroyed. They have had to redirect those customers to other Angel Food programs in the area.

For more information about Pine Forest Assembly, see http://www.pineforestassembly.com.

AG News
Kara Chase