Back in January we brought you the news that a fire had broken out at TWR’s International Headquarters in Cary, North Carolina. After nine months of hard work, the offices are back to their former glory. We spoke with TWR International President Lauren Libby about the fire and the process of reconstruction.
We had just gone to Colorado to be with our son and daughter-in-law for Christmas. It was four o’clock in the morning on the 22 December and the phone rang: it was one of my colleagues saying, “The building is on fire.” We had gotten there the night before and my bag wasn’t even unpacked. I just simply closed it up again, got back on an airplane, came back to Cary, and we began to sort things out. It’s been quite an adventure. If you’ve ever been through a fire, it sort of smells like a barbecue throughout the building for about 5 months.
With such extensive repairs being necessary, we asked about the impact the fire had on TWR’s global ministry.
Because we are a global organisation, we were able to switch to a backup that we have in Singapore. In terms of the broadcast time I think we lost all of about two minutes. We had done emergency planning, contingency planning which all kicked in, and thanks to the local officials and fire department we were able to recover rather quickly.
Lauren explained to us how God had provided for the cost of repair and renovation through a combination of insurance and the generosity of people and organisations.
It has just been amazing to see how God has provided: through the insurance, and through the body of Christ coming together. We have learned a lot of things as we work together and partner in the body of Christ. This is a real example of what God has done.
Thanks to the goodness and generosity of God, TWR HQ were able to go ahead with an extensive renovation project.
Over the last months we have been working in very difficult circumstances because we had to combine staff into about half of the building, while a $3.8 million renovation took place. That is coming to completion and hopefully we will be back in the building with everyone back in their place in about two weeks.
Our conversation with Lauren took place a little over two weeks ago, so we hope that by the time you read this, the staff will all be back in place.
Of course it never rains, but it pours, and the office at Cary have found themselves in the path of Hurricane Florence, so please join us in thanking God for his provision after the fire and asking for His help in whatever further recovery is needed after the storm.
