Photo by Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department

A few weeks back I interviewed Charles E. Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church of Milligan, Florida. He pastors a small church in the panhandle. During a storm this week, the church burned to the ground and was a total loss. Here are a few images of the fire and aftermath posted by Pastor Smith. There is now a fundraiser placed on Facebook where you can give. Please consider it.

As Pastor Smith told BP, “There is an old saying, ‘a blessing in disguise,’ he said. “This is very well disguised, but I’m sure there’s a blessing under this.”

The church posted a thank you message to first responders who battled the blaze. “We would like to thank all the fire departments who spent so much time and energy trying to put out the fire at our church. Thank you to Crestview, Holt, North Okaloosa and to Eglin Air Force Base’s fire crews. We appreciate all that you did!”