‘Suspicious’ fire razes Filipino church in US

Forerunners for Christ church building (Screengrab from ABS-CBN report)

According to an ABS-CBN report, the Forerunners for Christ church building in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood was caught on fire on Monday morning.

“You’re kind of saddened that your church is burning but at the same time you know that God is in control so you just go and take faith. And by the time we got here, we found out it’s not too bad, still bad but at least it didn’t take the inside,” Pastor Linda Cruz said.

Fortunately, the fire did not completely burn the wooden church building but several parts were affected including the porch, walls and roof. Despite the incident, the congregation would still be able to conduct their church activities such as bible studies and weekend worships as the inside of the building was mostly left untouched.

The House of Worship Task Force has already started investigations in the incident. Preliminary results showed that the fire started in the front roof and the fire was ‘suspicious.’ The probe has still been ongoing.

Cruz, however, would stay positive as she could not think that the church building was purposely set on fire. But should it be the case, the pastor shared that she would be able to forgive the offenders.

“We’ve been happy in this area. We have no incidents. People are nice in this area. So, I’m really kind of surprised if someone intentionally set the church on fire,” Cruz said.

“The Bible also says where sin abounds, grace super abounds even more. We look at this as an opportunity to shine, to forgive people, to continue the work that has been given to us by God,” she added.

The pastors and most members of the Forerunners for Christ church were Filipinos.