| Updated: 8/20/2010 8:21 am |
Published: 8/19/2010 3:55 pm |
Lightning struck a Little Rock church melting the steeple and knocking the building's cross off the roof. Drivers on Colonel Glenn Road saw the lightning strike Martindale Baptist Church right before 2:00 Thursday afternoon.
Witnesses say had the rain not put the flames out before the fire department arrived, the damage would have have been much worse. Church goers say a miracle happened.
Flames more than three-feet-high started flickering out of the steeple almost immediately, but the weather stopped the fire from spreading.
"About that time, it started raining really hard and the wind started blowing so hard that the rain started going parallel and it was absolutely a miracle," says witness Quinda Holder.
"We just believe the Lord just put the fire out," says Pastor Walters.
Although there is some electrical damage to the church, services are still expected to be held this Sunday in the sanctuary.
The fire department arrived just minutes after the lightning hit. They say damages would have been much worse had the rain not stopped the flames from spreading.
"It was just amazing to be able to witness something like that," says Holder.
Pastor Walters says he has plenty of faith the damages will be restored in no time.
"God can. It's his church. We'll make it," says Pastor Walters.
It is actually the second time this church has caught fire. The first time was due to an electrical problem back in the late 1980's. Pastor Walters joked this afternoon saying, "maybe someone's trying to tell us something, and we're just not getting it."
