CADWELL, Ga. — In Laurens County, one church is hoping for a miracle after somebody stole thousands of dollars worth of tools from them.
Cadwell Baptist Church uses those tools to help people with building ramps, decks, steps, water heater replacements, door replacements, re-decks and many other projects.
Paula Cameron said this church was an answer to her prayers.
"There's so many different ways that they've been a blessing in my life," Cameron said.
She volunteers with the youth at the church as the "youth grandma". She said as much as she's helped them, they've helped her even more.
"They built my front yard ramp, because I'd fallen on the cement steps a couple of times, and that ramp has been a blessing," Cameron said.
And when her arthritis got really bad, church members got her a golf cart to zip around town in. They just want to help people — which is why youth pastor Robert Marina said he was shocked that someone stole their tools sometime between March 9 and March 16.
"They broke into our trailer and they stole pretty much our chainsaw, our jigsaw, all our Milwaukee pack out tool kit, which is probably $3,000 in itself," Marina said.
Almost every weekend since 2019, they've taken the church's youth to help somebody with a building project, free of charge. They've helped with hundreds of projects over the years, and Marina said it teaches the kids good life skills along with a love for service.
He said they want to help everyone in town — including the person who stole from them.
"I don't want him to go to jail. I wanna give him the love of Christ. I wanna show him that 'Hey, we forgive you. Come be a part of us. Let us invest in — let us meet your needs, whatever they may be,'" Marina said.
He said they're not looking to press charges or get anybody in trouble at the end of the day. They just wanted their tools back, and to help the person who was in so much need, they decided to steal from a church.
Despite the setback, about 20 members of the church are leaving on Saturday morning for Dayton, Ohio. They're going to help a church with members who need a hand fixing broken parts of their houses. They said they're not sure yet how it'll work out, but they're optimistic that God will create a way.
They kept their tools in a trailer that was under camera surveillance when it was broken into. But because it was stolen at night, they can't make out who took them. They're hoping to borrow tools for their mission trip this weekend until they can replace them.
The items that were stolen are:
Three Rigid pack-out boxes, 10 Milwaukee batteries, 1 6-pack battery charger, 15-gauge Milwaukee nail gun, 18-guage Milwaukee nail gun, 2 Milwaukee impact drivers, 1 Milwaukee multi-tool, 1 Milwaukee grinder, 1 Milwaukee Skilsaw, 1 Milwaukee 1/2 drill, 1 Milwaukee Sawzall, 1 Stihl MS250 chainsaw, 1 Ryobi corded jigsaw, 1 DeWalt corded reciprocating saw.
They say it comes out to about $4,000 of stolen items.