MIAMI (WSVN) - A South Florida pastor is asking for the public’s help in purchasing new air conditioning units after thieves stole two of his units at his church.
Emmanuel Bryant is a pastor at Gospel Arena International Ministry in Miami.
Bryant said he noticed something strange when the air conditioner at his church was not on for Sunday’s service.
“It was really, really, really hot. Everyone was sweating and fanning,” said Bryant.
Those in attendance also spoke to 7News about the hot conditions.
“We were there cooking,” said Alex Alexander. “It was so hot Sunday. He [Bryant] preached for like 45 minutes with a suit on and it was really pipping in the church.”
Despite the heat, the congregation pushed through without air conditioning.
“God brought us still,” said Alexander.
“Everyone was sweating and fanning,” said Bryant.
The pastor’s first thought was the air conditioner was broken.
“We just assumed that it was malfunctioning, and we just continued to have service as normal,” said Bryant.
A few days later, an air conditioner technician came by the church and discovered that the two air conditioning units were gone. One from the roof and another from an empty cage on the ground.
Bryant showed 7News the empty cage that once held the air conditioning unit. Thieves pulled it out of the wall and took the inside coils.
“We believe they used this. This case was actually on top of this. We believe they put the cage there to climb up on the roof,” he said.
The thieves also tried to steal a third unit, which now has visible cuts and broken wires.
The church canceled their Wednesday night choir practice because of the heat inside the church.
The pastor said he believes someone or several people stole the church’s two air conditioning units between Friday night and Sunday morning.
One of the places he thinks they stole it from is the roof, which was the unit that cooled the sanctuary where people worship.
“We believe they used this. This case was actually on top of this. We believe they put the cage there to climb up on the roof,” said Bryant.
The thieves also tried to steal a third one as the unit had some cut and broken wires, but they weren’t successful.
Bryant said the repairs and replacements will be very costly to replace.
“We came up with the estimates and everything, and it’s over $20,000 to replace it,” said Bryant.
It is a lot of money for a church that serves the community through donations.
“We’re just heartbroken to know the AC was missing and how much it’s going to be to replace it,” said Bryant.
The church now needs the public’s help in finding new air conditioning units. So far a $200 donation was made, but the theft has cost them more than that.
Despite the heartbreak and scorching Miami Heat, Bryant remains hopeful that the public will help and the thieves will be caught.
“God will provide,” said Bryant. “They were obviously in a place where they were in need. If they could just take a moment to understand that if they need help, they can come to the church for help. We would open our arms, even now.”
Members of the church said they are praying for whoever did this.
“We pray for the person who did that and their family,” said Alexander.
“We don’t wish these people any harm because there is obviously something seriously wrong with them that needs addressing,” said Joseph Wade.
But now the church is dealing with the repairs and replacements which will be very costly.
“We came up with the estimates and everything, and it’s over $20,000 to replace it,” said Bryant.
That’s a lot of money for a church that serves its community only using donations.
“We’re just heartbroken to know that the AC was missing and then to find out how much it’s going to be to replace it,” said Bryant.
Now the church needs help finding new AC units. Despite the heartbreak, they do have faith.
So far, the church has received a $400 donation.
The church will now be installing security cameras and new lighting, so that will be an additional cost.
If you would like to help the church with air conditioning units, click here for their Cash App.
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