Religion

By PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor

Vandals cut nine straps supporting a tent hosting revival meetings early Thursday morning. The tent, at County Road 4222 and Highway 110 North, belongs to Liberty Fellowship Ministry, which has held revival meetings at the location the past four years.

“It’s just the devil,” said Don Herring, a retired pastor of 29 years who is an organizer with Liberty Fellowship. “When we came in this morning, the tent was a heap, all along the sides.”

No one at the revival was discouraged though, Herring said. After a morning of hard labor to get the tent back up, the meetings will proceed as planned.

“If you’re not creating a stir with the devil in some fashion, than you’re not being truly effective,” he said. “Not much is happening.”

Smith County sheriff’s deputies were summoned and made a report, said Herring. The meetings are facilitated by four men who said they “just want people to know Jesus.”

The stifling heat has kept people away this year, said Mickey Baggs, of Liberty Fellowship, located in Big Sandy.

“It’s been hard to get people to sit here in the 100-degree heat,” he said. “But we have these big fans and last night there was a breeze. It was real comfortable out here.”

The revival is non-denominational, Baggs said.

“This is a full gospel, Pentecostal revival,” he said, “but we want everyone to come, Pentecostal or not. This is not about a denomination. Christians need to band together, not split.”

The meetings begin each evening at 7:30 p.m. and are held today, Saturday and Monday through Wednesday.

REBUILT: Vandals on Thursday allegedly attempted to impede open-air revival meetings held in a tent by Liberty Fellowship Ministries.
((Staff Photo by Patrick Butler))