Vandalism on Mohawk Assembly of God

By Mahlon Smoke

On January 1st and 2nd, the Mohawk Assembly of God was discovered to have been visited by vandals who graffiti "M V" "FIND" the letter R and "SNIPE" on the bricks and church door. So far, the police haven't found any suspects but are still investigating at this time. In the meantime, the church is planning to heighten security for the time being and will continue to hold services despite the vandalism.

While shocking to see, Pastor April Bender holds that the vandals were trying to reach out to the church, that this was just their way of doing so.

"Whatever their purpose was, we're going see good in it and we're going see potential in it. We welcome them back to talk and sit with us," said the pastor.

Pastor Bender continued to say that she wished that the vandals had come to the church rather than leaving a message. The Saint Regis Mohawk Police will continue their investigation and according to the Pastor, may have an idea who they might be, but nothing been made public as of yet.

Right now, the church is looking into the best way to remove the graffiti, but plans to do so won't take place until the spring. So, for now the graffiti will remain for the rest of the winter.

"We are people of forgiveness and we want to move forward from here," said Pastor April Bender about the whole situation.

Pastor Bender was thankful for the police and the support from the community, all of whom showed an equal amount of disappointment and outrage in mysterious youths who would deface and vandalize a church.

One anonymous speaker spoke out about the situation, "It really broke my heart to think that there are people out there that would damage such a sacred place as a church."

She also expressed 'the Church is home to me and to many others who go to worship God'.

If anyone within the community has any information, please call the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police at (518)-358-9200.