A Mississippi church has vowed to pray for the arsonist who destroyed their building.

First Pentecostal Church of Holly Springs, led by senior pastor Jerry Waldrop, says he never thought he'd see armed police ordering their church to shut down its service. He also never thought he'd see his church burned down by an arsonist.

violating an unconstitutional stay at home order," Waldorp says. "Ten days later, our peaceful Bible study was shut down although we were following all social distancing guidelines."

The Congregation of First #Pentecostal Church in Holly Springs, Mississippi, initially refused to close due to #COVID19...

Posted by SML Ministries on Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Waldrop says it didn't end there, however. The "nightmare" continued when their church building was burned to the ground.

The church is choosing to respond to these difficult events in a different way.

"We recognize that not everyone shares our belief in the Word of God as revealed in the Bible," Waldrop says. "We are not offended that others don't share our firmly held belief that gathering together to worship and to study the Bible is an essential duty and necessary to the growth of the church and its members.