February 22, 2008
A tornado that demolished homes and businesses in Prattville, Alabama, spared Fountain of Grace Alliance Church, which was in the storm’s path. “The church was having a memorial service when the tornado came through,” said Brad Barrick of Elizabethton Alliance Church in Tennessee, who has been in touch with Phil Leistner, Fountain of Grace’s assistant pastor. “They all rushed to the stairwell, and no one was injured.” Although neighborhoods across the street were devastated, the church sustained only minor damage.
“The Leistners’ home received fairly significant damage,” said church member Brett Morris. “Their place was right along the track of the tornado. They lost all or most of their windows, suffered roof damage, and had a neighbor’s RV crash against their house. Miraculously, there have been no fatalities directly tied to the tornado. A number of churches have gone to great lengths to minister to the community, though I’m not aware of specific efforts on the part of Fountain of Grace.”
Given the amount of people who had to be pulled out of the rubble, “it’s amazing that there were few serious injuries,” said Morris. However, several members of Fountain of Grace suffered severe damage to their homes. A former member who has been ministering to the military community in Pensacola, Florida, returned to find his rental home “only suitable for bulldozing,” said Morris.
“We’ve been blessed that the rain stopped after the storm and hasn’t started again until today,” Morris said. “The city has asked all volunteers to stand down for the next two days since the bad weather increases the risk of undue injury. In addition to rain, we’ve been told to expect winds in excess of 60 miles per hour. We are praying this will not be the case. Full-blown recovery work is expected to start up again on Saturday (2/23).”
The Southern District office still has not heard from Tony Butler, the senior pastor.