KSHB 41 News anchor Taylor Hemness reports on stories across Kansas, including a focus on consumer issues. You can contact Taylor by email.
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At least one church in Ottawa, Kansas, is facing major repairs after Monday night’s storms violently ripped off part of the building’s roof.
I met with the pastor of Transformation Church on Tuesday morning, who took me inside to see the damage.
Pastor Gregg Hall told me he was on his way to Lawrence on Monday night when he had an experience that, unfortunately, many people in Ottawa shared.
"My phone just started blowing up,” Hall said. “Texts from friends, other people in the community, saying I heard possibly the church was damaged."
Possibly became reality when Hall was sent the building's security footage.
“It was pretty, pretty powerful," Hall said.
The footage showed a large section of the church's roof flying off into the parking lot.
"Truly, the very first thing that went through my mind was I'm just so glad the building was empty," Hall told me. “God, I'm so grateful that this happened on a Monday night when nobody was there."
As Hall showed me the tattered remains of the children's wing, he told me he's already heard from other churches offering their buildings to his congregation.
"That's what community is supposed to be about, and that really is the beauty of the local church," Hall said. "We're all one big church, and we have the same mission and goal, which is to bring glory to Jesus Christ and to serve his kingdom purposes. So when we all pitch in like that to serve those purposes together, it's a pretty beautiful thing."
As amazing as it is that people are reaching out, Hall told me church is about helping others, even now.
"People kept reaching out to us, but we were trying to reach out to as many people as we knew that were within the vicinity of where we heard the tornado was,” Hall said.
Hall says Transformation Church members consider this setback an opportunity to live their faith, literally through the storm.
"Jesus told His disciples, 'In this world, you will have trouble,'” Hall said. “And so sometimes we're caught off guard, and we find ourselves really surprised about going through hardship, but we shouldn't be. All throughout the Bible, God's people went through incredible hardship."
He plans to carry that message with him into his next sermon, preaching that hardship and uncertainty should be faced with faith.
"Through it, the Lord is with us," Hall said.
Transformation Church became an independent church just about two weeks ago, spending years as part of the LifeMission Church group.
Hall isn't sure where they'll gather this Wednesday and Sunday, but he is confident they'll have a space.
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