A Tennessee pastor chose prayer over anger after finding out an elderly church member was unknowingly robbed inside the church’s sanctuary while the suspects prayed with her.
Pastor Larry Robertson with the Hilldale Baptist Church in Clarksville informed the congregation about the shocking incident on Feb. 9 during an evening worship service.
“We had a couple of women who came at about 5:40 and said they thought the service started at 6 p.m. and I directed them in this direction (the sanctuary),” Robertson said. “One of our ladies came early and was here. And long story short, they robbed her. One asked, ‘Will you pray with me?’ While they had their eyes closed and heads bowed, the other girl got into our church member’s purse and we’ve got it all on video … got credit cards, cash, everything. Closed it back up and amazingly, that’s when the prayer finished.”
Robertson, who was clearly upset by the malicious act, told church members that God will satisfy His own wrath against the women. He then quoted Deuteronomy 32:35, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay sayeth the Lord. The Lord knows who they are and where they are,” he declared.
Watch the incident below:
The pastor also called on the congregation to pray for their repentance.
“I want to pray that the Lord will awaken something in these young ladies and realize the error of their ways and ultimately, come to Christ,” he said. “The reality is there’s not much the police can do at this point. We want to pray for those individuals, especially Ms. Linda. People know that Christians are kind and trusting and the devil knows it too.”
The Clarksville Police Department posted photos of the suspects on its Facebook page, revealing four females involved in the crime.
“It is so disappointing and shocking when it happens in a church building to a senior adult widow, lady who just came to church early to pray. That’s hard to swallow,” Robertson to WTVF News.
He added, “My prayer is that if I had the opportunity to encounter them again, that I would be faithful to and kind enough to them to share the gospel with them in hopes that they would trust Christ as their Savior.”
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