Burglars not caught after stealing $6K of tools from Renton Bible Church

It appears that even houses of worship are not immune to the Seattle area’s rampant property crime — the Renton Bible Church lost thousands of dollars in power tools after a burglary earlier this week.

Volunteers at the church, which is located in the Renton Highlands, have been busy building a new sanctuary for the church. On Tuesday morning when the volunteers entered their work trailer, all of the power tools were gone.

“Most of our equipment was inside that trailer, and they got it all,” Renton Bible Church Pastor Dan Gannon told the Dori Monson Show.

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Police found that the burglars got into the trailer by drilling out its lock. The entire break-in was not an easy or a random feat, as the burglars first had to use tools to break the fence surrounding the work area.

Thieves took as much as $6,000 in power tools, all belonging to the volunteers.

Gannon said that the crime is especially disheartening because the construction project is entirely volunteer-run. One of the volunteers, who lost all of his tools, works full-time in construction, and then puts in another few hours of his time on the church project after work.

“These folks are donating their own time and their own tools … and then they have their tools stolen, it’s kind of sad,” Gannon said.

And to make matters worse, because the power tools did not specifically belong to the church, the loss is not covered by insurance.

According to Gannon, the church has been broken into before, but never has it suffered a loss this big. He suspects that people who are living nearby and suffering from addiction may be trying to feed those addictions through theft.

The Renton Bible Church tries to do all it can to help people with addiction and housing issues. The same morning as the loss was discovered, the church was hosting Vision House, a nonprofit that helps homeless people to find housing.

“It’s kind of an irony, because part of the point of being a church here in this neighborhood is to bring hope and freedom from addictions to people in our community,” he said.

Still, he refuses to be angry, and instead hopes that if the perpetrators are caught, they will get the help they need to change their situation.

“Really quickly, our discouragement … has changed to encouragement as we’ve seen the way the community has responded to this,” Gannon said.

Throughout this trying experience, he is keeping in mind one Bible verse, Genesis 50:20.

“What people intend for evil, God takes and uses for good,” he quoted.

To help the Renton Bible Church out in its time of need, visit the church’s website.

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