An unlicensed box truck driver struck the side of a North Carolina church, destroying it Saturday morning. However, the church’s pastor said he had nothing but love for this madman in his heart.
Father Bienvenido Alegría was just 300 meters away from the Pentecostal church, Unida Hispana, when he heard the crash. told WSOC-TV.
When he rushed to his beloved pastor, he found the church in pieces, stuck against a wall, and a small box truck surrounded by a plinth with a broken front bumper.
The force of the impact was so great that the opposite wall of the church exploded, leaving a second large hole in the church’s four walls.
The driver remained in the front seat, looking stunned, until Alegria politely helped him out of the car.
Fortunately, there were no parishioners in the car at the time of the accident, and the driver escaped with only minor injuries.
Despite her shock and pain, Alegria quickly forgave the man after thinking about how she would feel if her family was in the driver’s seat.
“I think it was probably my son or nephew or someone else,” he recalled to the media.
He then said “I love you” to the man who destroyed his church.
Police said 32-year-old Bobby Dean McKinney had been driving recklessly in the lead up to the accident, veering too far off the road and crashing into a parking lot and into a church.
McKinney allegedly had his license revoked and was uninsured.
The crash was so destructive that the church was deemed unsafe, leaving the congregation without a place of worship to call home.
“My soul was shocked,” Alegria said.
“I feel really, really sad.”
Alegría and his congregation hope the church will be rebuilt and have also established a fundraiser to begin renovations.
Meanwhile, pastors from a nearby church are allowing Iglesia Pentecostal Unida Hispana worshipers to use the space twice a week.
The newspaper could not immediately reach Mr. Alegria.
