Valley Station church with history of thefts gets air conditioning stolen

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A church with a long history of thefts and storm damage gets hit again.

This time, their air conditioning gets ripped out of the building during a heat wave.

Southwest Assembly of God in Valley Station knows all about thefts. The biggest one was when more than $50,000 of sound equipment was stolen just a few years ago.

The latest theft has them sweating over finances.

“There are some tracks through the grass,” Church board member Frank Harrison said. “It looks like they pulled the truck around, cut the lock, took the chain, took the lock, took the whole air conditioning unit. They just cut the wires, cut the freon line, moved the air conditioning unit out the way, lifted it up and walked right through the gate.”

The church has had a tough go of it.

“Computers, TV screens of the walls,” Harrison said. “They stole our lawnmower, the catalytic converter on our church van has been stolen three times, a few other vandalism things, and now the air conditioning.”

The AC unit being stolen is just the latest setback for the church. They’re still working on fixing the roof, which was damaged in one of the recent windstorms.

“We’ve got a roof that’s torn up,” Harrison said. “We’ve got another part of the roof that’s leaking, now we have to buy more of a security system.”

The costs are adding up. Insurance helps, but with each new thing, the rates go up.

Harrison said people at the church are angry, but forgiveness is key.

“We welcome folks back,” Harrison said. “You stole from us? Hey, we still want to see you Sunday morning. We still want you to come in and have breakfast at 9:30. We still want you to go to Sunday School.”

Harrison wants to look at things in a positive light. He said it’s the only way to deal with his own anger, so he needs to believe there’s a silver lining.

“I would hope that somebody needed that air conditioning unit for a loved one,” Harrison said. “A sick mom, a sick grandma that is dealing with this heat without air right now.”

Despite everything that’s happened to them, Harrison still believes in the people in the community.

“We are good people out here,” Harrison said. “There are good hearts that still believe in what we’re called to do. And that’s love each other..”

Harrison said his positive outlook on this situation is the best way to look at it because it’s the easiest way to move on and continue servicing the community.

A GoFundMe has been started to help replace the stolen AC unit. For more information and to donate, click or tap here.

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