'The amazing grace of God'

By Steve Lawson
News Editor

On his way out of Kmart shortly after 3 p.m. March 20, 1998, the Rev. Paul Sisk and other shoppers were called back in and directed to the layaway department at the rear of the store.
“They said there was a tornado headed toward the shopping center and we all needed to take cover as quick as we could,” Sisk said.
Sisk said he could see the storm headed in the direction of the store when it seemed to take about a 45-degree turn – directly toward Sisk’s church, West Side Baptist in Mayodan.
“I’d just left the church about 20 minutes before,” he said.
“But for the amazing grace of God, I would have been in that building when it hit,” Sisk said. “It’s a miracle no one was seriously injured or killed in Mayodan with all the damage done that day.”
Sisk said he and the other shoppers stayed in the rear of the store for about 45 minutes until they were certain it was clear outside. People then scrambled to use the store’s phone lines to call loved ones.
“I called my wife and she told me the church had been destroyed,” he said.
Sisk thought his wife had confused their church with the Mayodan United Methodist Church. He had heard the caller using the phone before him say that church had been destroyed.
“Then she told me both churches had been hit,” Sisk said.
Debris, fallen trees and emergency vehicles blocking the road made the two-minute drive from Kmart to the church last almost a half hour. Along the way, Sisk saw the damage to houses and cars. Still, it did little to prepare him for the sight of his own church.
When he got there, the sanctuary was a pile of brick and timber.
“It was a disaster area. It looked like a war zone,” Sisk said.
“Right here’s where it hit to start with,” Sisk said, pointing to old pictures in a scrapbook. It was taken just outside the church and showed a large depression of cracked asphalt in a rough, round shape. “It hit the asphalt in the parking lot and then jumped from here over to here and took the whole end of it.”
The congregation was able to salvage 22 pews that it donated to a Baptist church in Pinnacle. The church piano also survived. Sisk said it was removed and stored by a company in Kernersville. When it was opened up to look for damage, the piano company folks happily reported the piano might as well have been sitting in their showroom instead of a church borne down on by a tornado.
“He said preacher, that thing didn’t get wet. It was amazing,” Sisk said. “Didn’t even have to clean it out. No dust or nothing in it. So that was a miracle.”
In addition to destroying the education and sanctuary building, the tornado did more than $5,000 in damage to the adjoining fellowship hall. Church members pulled together to complete repairs to that building in one week and were able to hold services there by the next Sunday.
“Joe Jenkins from Ray Funeral Home offered to let us use their chapel until we could finish repairs at the fellowship hall,” Sisk said. “We met there for morning and evening services the Sunday after the storm and the next Wednesday. We were in our own building again the next Sunday, but it was certainly a tight fit.”
One year later, the congregation moved into a new educational building and sanctuary. The new building was larger and more modern than the previous facility and, Sisk said, they were able to rebuild debt-free.
“We had good insurance on the building, but we also had help from places we couldn’t have imagined,” he said. “With all of the national news coverage on the disaster, we ended up getting donations from people and other churches all over the country. It was amazing to watch God work in the aftermath of that day.”
Ironically, Sisk said, the church spent about $130,000 in renovations to the previous building in the year prior to the tornado and then ended up with a facility nearly twice as large without extra debt.
“It was truly God’s amazing grace working everything out, but I don’t think any of us would want to go through that again for a new building.”
Although he admits it was sad to see the church he had served in 22 years at the time blown away, there was relief that no one was there at the time.
“Our church family grieved some over the loss of our building, but, at the same time, we were thrilled that no one was hurt in such a devastating storm,” he said. “It really bonded our congregation together.”