“That’s the only part of the church that really survived. Every picture survived but mine. But I can take another picture,” Pastor Gerald Toussaint said.
Three churches in St. Landry Parish are still active crime scenes. Monday, ATF spent much of the day at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church.
According to ATF, they ware working to determine if there is any connection between the three fires in St. Landry parish and other fired across the country. As investigators look through the damage, they have been able to salvage historic items for the congregation.
“I’m the only one whose picture was destroyed, but I’m still here so I can take another picture. But I have the other pictures and that’s a blessing,” Toussaint said.
Inside the rubble, 145 years of history, and several items that have been saved.
“Thank God I have one of the bibles that sit on the pulpit. It’s wet but some of it’s still intact,” Toussaint said.
He says there are also several things that have helped lift his spirits during this difficult.
“You know what gave me a life today? Is the cloth that we sit on top of the communion table, it’s still intact, it has a couple of holes in it, but its stretched out as a full cloth. I don’t understand that. How did that survive through all that fire,” Toussaint said.
Touissant says he’s ready for the investigation to be over so that he can stop reliving this nightmare.
