Muskogee Church Heartbroken After They Say Thieves Stole Offering Money

A small church in Muskogee is heartbroken after they said burglars broke in and stole hundreds of dollars’ worth of offering money, a huge blow for a tight-knit congregation.

The church only has about ten members, and while $500 may not seem like a lot, the church said that's several weeks' worth of offering money.

Evangelical Pentecostal Church of Light is small, but they strive to make a big impact on the community around them. That's why the pastor's son, Gabriel Nava, said losing the money is heartbreaking.

"A lot of churches around this community just want to help build it and it really hurts, it breaks our hearts because we work really hard to do God's will and work for God's Kingdom," Nava said.

He said someone broke one of the windows sometime after Sunday's service, took the cash and left. He said his mom came to the church Monday for a prayer meeting and noticed the offering money was gone. That’s money the church needs just to operate.

"Everything going on with the pandemic right now, things are tight, but we're going to have to try to find a way to recover from this," said Nava. 

He said this is the first time in the church's ten-year history that they've dealt with something like this. Officer Lynn Hamlin with the Muskogee Police Department said burglaries are actually down from last year, but it's still frustrating.

"When it's a church, it just takes it to a different level,” Nava said. “It’s just kind of frustrating that someone would break into a church and take from a church when churches do so much good in our community."