Port Kaituma church needs help with rebuilding

The Port Kaituma One Mile Church which saw its flooring collapse during the funeral of the five members of the La Cruz family who perished in last Friday’s fire needs rebuilding help.

Pastor Jennifer Calistro said because of the large amount of persons who attended the funeral and the age of the building, a big portion of the church’s flooring collapsed. She was thankful that no one was hurt during the ordeal.

Persons had turned out in the hundreds on Tuesday to witness the funeral service and burial of Lurlene La Cruz, 39; Lea La Cruz, 14; Labron La Cruz, 8; Lavette La Cruz, 3, and Levon La Cruz, 1. Lurlene and four of her children died after Linus La Cruz, her husband, allegedly lit their house on fire.

“I don’t know when we are going to start rebuilding the church because we don’t have the finances, we don’t know what next to do,” Calistro said.

She added that the church is the only one in the community and because of the disaster, persons in the community will not have a church to attend until it is fixed. Her desire is to have the church rebuilt on the ground. She said presently the church is elevated but she is sure members of the congregation will feel much safer if the church is rebuilt flat especially if it is done out of wood.

In 2012, Calistro said minor repairs were done on the building but nothing was ever done to the foundation since the church was established years ago.

Anyone wishing to make a contribution to rebuild the Port Kaituma One Mile Church can contact Calistro on Tel: 681-9426.