The day before the fire, the Caja de Agua neighborhood in Lima, Peru, was celebrating. For the first time in sixty years, the community had gathered together in unity. Music filled the streets, children danced, and city leaders presented Send Relief Serve Tour Lima volunteers with a Peruvian flag as thanks for their work installing security lights. It was a night of joy, marking a new beginning for a community long divided.
The very next day, smoke began to rise from Pastor Javier’s church.
A Fire in the Supply Room
Sam Connor, an International Mission Board journeyman serving in Lima, had just returned from the market with Pastor Javier. They were gathering supplies for the ongoing Serve Tour project when they heard a loud crack and saw smoke curling from the second story of the church.
“At first I thought maybe someone was cooking,” Sam recalled. “But then the smoke thickened, and people started shouting. When I realized a child was still inside, I ran to bring her out.”
The fire had broken out in a room used to store ministry supplies. Within minutes, flames filled the windows. The small alley outside filled with neighbors, more than 200 in all, who rushed to help. People shouted for water, passing buckets hand to hand. One man climbed a spiked fence and balanced precariously on top, tossing water through a burning window. Another arrived with a fire extinguisher.
Volunteer Gina Bowers remembered the panic in the crowd. “We were worried the flames would reach the kitchen, where propane tanks were stored. People kept yelling for everyone to back away, but then neighbors began working together to fight the fire. It was incredible to see.”
Fifteen minutes later, the fire department arrived. But by then, the worst had been contained—not by sirens, but by a neighborhood that had discovered its strength.
Unity Tested and Strengthened
For Dylan Pangburn, one of the U.S. volunteers serving at the project, the fire was devastating to watch. Only the night before, he had stood alongside community leaders in celebration. Now he saw the church they had celebrated with engulfed in flames.
“It felt like the enemy hit back the moment God’s people showed unity,” Dylan said. “But then we saw that same unity rise up even stronger. Neighbors who had barely spoken to each other before were now working shoulder to shoulder to save the church.”
By evening, the flames were out and the cleanup had begun. Volunteers and community members swept ash, salvaged what they could, and prayed together in the charred room.
A Box That Did Not Burn
When the smoke cleared, the damage was sobering. Walls were scorched black. Supplies meant for ministry were lost. Yet one detail stood out, impossible to ignore. Against a wall blackened by fire sat a box of Bibles. The wall behind it was burned, but the Bibles inside were untouched.
For Pastor Javier and his congregation, it was more than coincidence. It was a reminder that while flames can consume buildings, God’s Word cannot be destroyed.
“It’s a miracle of the Lord and we see the mighty hand of our great God preserving his word.”
The spared Bibles became a symbol for the church and the community. What the fire had threatened to take, God had preserved.
From Ashes to Witness
In Caja de Agua, the fire that could have divided instead drew people together. Volunteers who had arrived to paint light poles and install security lights now found themselves part of a far greater story—one where God turned destruction into testimony.
The day after the fire, Pastor Javier’s church opened its doors again. People came not just to see the damage, but to pray, to encourage one another, and to remind themselves that God’s work was not finished.
Neighbors who had once been strangers were now connected by buckets of water and smoke-streaked faces. Many had seen Christians praying in the street, helping side by side, and refusing to leave when the flames rose.
More Than Survival
For Send Relief Serve Tour volunteers, the experience was unforgettable. “I will never look at a light pole the same way again,” Dylan said. “I thought we were just installing security lights. But those lights brought people together. And when the fire came, that unity saved the church.”
The church in Caja de Agua is not defined by fire damage but by resilience. Their supplies can be replaced. Their walls can be repainted. What endures is their testimony: that in a moment of crisis, God’s Word stood firm, and His people stood together.
The Story That Remains
Though the smoke has cleared and the room has been restored, the memory of that day still lingers. Neighbors remember the buckets passed hand to hand. Volunteers remember the prayers lifted through smoke. And the church remembers how God held them together in crisis.
The fire revealed not only how quickly earthly things can be lost but also the strength of God’s people, united by compassion and anchored in the truth of His Word. And the community will not forget how God brought them together.
Send Relief, a collaborative ministry between the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board, is Southern Baptists’ global compassion ministry. For more information on future Serve Tour trips, visit servetour.org/trips.
Published December 11, 2025