- A lightning strike caused significant damage to New Covenant Church's electronics, knocking out their entire tech system.
- Despite the disruption, the church continues to provide essential services, including showers, transportation, and meals for the homeless.
- Watch the video to see how New Covenant Church is adapting to the challenges and staying committed to its mission.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A lightning strike wiped out computers, phones, and Wi-Fi at New Covenant Church.
Despite the damage, they tell me they're keeping their doors open for those in need.
"I think it's wonderful because they could have stopped. They could have froze everything and not helped people," said Harold.
I'm taking a closer look at what happened and why they continue to provide services to homeless folks in the neighborhood.
On Monday, things quickly go sideways at New Covenant Church when Pastor Dave Allen arrives to find the computers and phones down.
He realizes something's wrong and he decides to calls Grady EMC.
" And while they're in route, I walked to the door, and I discovered the tree that had the big lightning strikes on the bark. And I realized we'd had a lightning strike," said Allen.
The lightning hit two pine trees and a light pole, then traveled into the building, tripping all the breakers on the power panels.
The surge went through fiber optics and multiple power lines, wiping out computers, projectors, phone system, and Wi-Fi.
Though the power was restored, the damage to their electronics and equipment turned into a big, unexpected expense.
"So this has really impacted us in some ways because it's taking money away from where it could be put back into the community to help people," said Allen.
But Pastor Dave tells me they can't let people down.
On Wednesday, they teamed up with Second Harvest of South Georgia, serving over 100 cars and five different organizations, including foster homes and recovery groups.
And they're still offering their homeless shower services and laundry facilities on Thursdays.
"We are not stopping, that's right. If anything, it's made us more resolved. it's just one of those things that sometimes it's part of life and you just have to roll with it and push through it," said Allen.
Neighbors tell me they can't be more grateful.
"They come and take care of us when we have no one else that steps in. They come for us to have showers. They come and pick us up for class. They take us home. They feed us. They nurture us," said Harold.
Cynthia Harold, a homeless woman who relies on their services, tells me the now damaged computers were crucial to their operation.
"That's how she keeps up with our driver's license, and they help us get birth certificates, things that we can't possibly get on our own because we are homeless," said Harold.
Pastor Dave tells me they've been financially tight since their insurance rates went up this year.
Now with this incident, they're hoping neighbors can donate or support their newly opened thrift store.
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