A Church in Philadelphia was destroyed this week during unrest in the city after police shot a man who attacked them with a knife.
Pastor Philip Pham of Vietnam Baptist Church received a call Tuesday night from a church member whose friend had seen the flames and seven fire trucks surrounding the church.
Pham said, “I have no idea why they attacked our church. They burned it from the roof. They threw flammable chemicals on the roof and [flames] burned through the roof and down through the rest of the building.”
He said the facility is a “total loss.”
Of primary concern to Pham were three hard drives. Since before purchasing the building in 2005, Vietnam Baptist Church has served as something of a community center each weekday, providing help with immigration paperwork, taxes and even marriage counseling.
More than 15 years’ worth of information about hundreds of clients is on hard drives kept at the church. Pham said when he got the call about the fire, he immediately began praying that the hard drives would be spared.
Pham asked Christians to pray for his church and members saying, “The majority of us have very strong faith in Christ, but a minority, a few new believers, they need their faith to grow.” He added, “Pray for their faith to take deep root in the love of God so they can be steadfast in Him. Not focus on the problem, but focus on Jesus.”