It was going to be a week of firsts for Brennan Prins and Scott Kember.
The two members of the Sarnia Gospel Hall who work in Petrolia were about to hold their own tent meetings. They were using the brand new tent their church had purchased for $40,000 to hold its annual gospel meetings. “This was the debut of the new tent in Petrolia,” says Prins.
But before they could start, vandals armed with a knife or a razor blade cut holes in almost every panel of the tent which had been set up in Bridgeview Park.
There were long slashes and along one wall, the vandals had cut into the side N-GOD. They also knocked down about 150 chairs which had been set up for the services.
Prins was stunned by the incident. But the pair were not deterred. Using white duct tape, they closed all the slash marks, except for one. The material from ‘O’ in GOD had been removed, so it remains open.
The first service went ahead as scheduled.
Prins is sad someone would damage the tent. “I see it as a sign there are a lot of people out there who are hurting, people who don’t have a lot of peace,” he tells The Independent. He says the meetings  are meant to bring a message of peace to people.
“It would be great if the person who did this came out and sat in the meeting – that would be great.”
Prins isn’t sure if the damage, estimated between $10,000 and $20,000 is covered by insurance.