Thieves Steal Fundraiser Money From Sperry Youth Group

By Ashli Sims, The News On 6  

SPERRY, OK – Police say burglars broke into a Green Country church, vandalizing the property and stealing equipment.

5/20/2010 Related Story: Thieves Break Into Sperry Church And Steal Hundreds Of Dollars

To make matters worse, the minister says they ripped off something that took his youth group hours of sacrifice to earn.

These teenagers say they now know what it's like to go hungry. They joined church groups around the country in a 30-hour famine.

"We went from door to door around a neighborhood and asked if they would sponsor us if we fasted for 30 hours, if they'd give us a dollar for every hour that we fast," said 15-year-old Patience Young.

Every hour they went hungry, they were making sure a child in Africa wouldn't have to.

"I started way before everybody to help raise more money, said Larry Hughes, 18 years old. "By the time I got to eat I was ready to eat so bad."

They raised $1,000, only to have burglars break-in and rob them of their donation.

"Those kids had raised that much money to try and feed those kids in Africa," said Adam Stang, Sperry Christian Church Minister. "And now most of that money is gone."

"Why would you steal from a church and an organization like this?" Hughes asked. "Why would you want to take anything from a church?"

The burglars made off with hundreds of dollars, a laptop, and tagged a church wall with an anti-religious symbol.

"I was sad. And we really needed prayer for the church," said Chelsea Hatley, 15 years old. "And the people who did it. Maybe next time they'll come when the doors are actually open."

"We take that and just decide to turn that around," Stang said. "Somebody's going to get a great blessing, great joy out of this because that's the way God works.

The pastor here says thieves can't rip open a hole, without God opening a window of opportunity. Once the community found out the kids' fasting money was stolen, they replaced it. Three times over.