Flooded Indiana Church Opens Its Doors to Community despite Its Own Needs

Teresa Neumann : Jun 18, 2008
Staff - AG News

"The night before the flood, we had a prayer meeting where we prayed the Lord would use us this summer, like He's never used us before... to do things beyond our wildest imaginations. In the past five days, I've met more neighbors and seen more miracles than I have in the last five-and-a-half years of ministry here. My heart is exploding . . . God is doing something right before our eyes as He's using a flood to accomplish that prayer."

(Columbus, Indiana)—Pastor Don Andreasen of Columbus First Assembly in Columbus— where record flooding forced the closure of the local hospital—has turned his church into "Disaster Central" for church and community members. That might not be so unusual, in and of itself, except for the fact that Andreasen's church is flooded also. (Photo: FOXNews.com)

"The entire church basement was filled up with flood waters. In addition, every other square inch of the ministry center, except the balcony and the top of the platforms, was under water," Andreasen says. "The flooding surpassed the historic 1913 flood record by a foot."

Accord to AG News, despite floodwaters pouring into the church—causing at least $500,000 damage to the building and destroying hundreds of thousands of dollars of materials, furniture, computers and other ministry resources. Andreasen and his congregation are committed to meeting the needs of those suffering around them.

"The night before the flood," said Andreasen, "we had a prayer meeting where we prayed the Lord would use us this summer, like He's never used us before... to do things beyond our wildest imaginations. In the past five days, I've met more neighbors and seen more miracles than I have in the last five-and-a-half years of ministry here. My heart is exploding . . . God is doing something right before our eyes as He's using a flood to accomplish that prayer."

"A year from now, after we've had our grand reopening," Andreasen added, "You not only won't recognize the church physically, you won't recognize us spiritually—we're being reborn. I cannot fathom where God is going to take us, but I'm along for the ride!"