KENOSHA - Two days after a freak winter tornado ripped through Kenosha County, destroying part of the Prayer House Assembly of God Church, one of the church's pastors made a significant discovery.

The January storm had ripped out several walls of the church and pushed the interior wall of their youth room back 18 inches. "It was amazing to see how the wall had moved," said the Rev. Nick Hubing.

He could still see where the wall had been attached to the floor. Then he saw something partially sticking out from beneath the wall: a Bible. "When I actually saw the Bible, I almost laughed," Hubing said. "The Word talks about standing firm on the Word of God. It was a Biblical analogy in real-time fashion."

A contractor then informed the church's senior pastor, Ron Auch, that the Bible literally was the foundation of their building. If it had not stopped the wall from being pushed further, the whole roof and ceiling of the church would have collapsed.

"It would have taken most of the south wing down," said the Rev. John Oscar.

A shadow box with the Bible, photographs of it holding up the church wall and the story behind it now hangs on the rebuilt wall of the church.

After nearly a year of construction and holding their worship services at another location, Prayer House, 1525 24th Ave., will officially reopen its doors on Nov. 21. They will hold a weekend-long grand opening celebration that will include concerts, food, movies, games, a carnival and tours of the church. At 3:30 p.m. Nov. 23 a dedication service will be held. The public is invited to all of the events.

"Even a tornado can't stop God," says a flier announcing the event.

Hope despite disaster

The Prayer House church was a fairly new building when it was partially destroyed in the Jan. 7 tornado. It was built in 2003 and opened in November of that year.

When the storm hit Kenosha County, it struck the east side of the Prayer House, taking out the exterior walls to their youth room, a storage area and a portion of the sanctuary.

Auch said they initially thought the building was a total loss, however engineers came in and said they thought it could be salvaged. And so a $1 million rebuild ensued.

Even in the midst of the disaster, the congregation didn't lose hope. A news story from the day after the storms quotes a church board member as saying, "There's a lot of strength here. We'll get through it."

They were simply grateful that no one was hurt or killed by the tornado. Auch's wife, Lou Ann, and the church's children's pastor, were at Prayer House just minutes before the storm blew through.

"(Lou Ann) was up in the attic putting Christmas decorations away," Auch said.

When she heard the storm sirens go off, she went to find the children's pastor to warn him they should leave.

"They got out of here five minutes before it hit," Auch said.

The senior pastor was in South Dakota at the time, teaching a conference on prayer. "It was hard to believe," he said. "You don't ever expect it to happen. There was a lot of emotion."

But the congregation rallied, Auch said. "We had a lot of support. Our people stayed with us."

Continuing their ministry

Immediately following the tornado, the church staff began working out of a mobile office trailer. Although they had to cut back on some of their mid-week services, they kept normal hours.

They also took the time to make care packages with weather radios, food and emergency supplies to their neighbors.

Lakeshore Tabernacle Church, 8900 34th Ave., allowed the Prayer House congregation to operate out of their chapel. For 10 months the congregation of 300 people met at the southside church for worship.

The rebuild was a long process, Oscar said.

Because of the rain that followed the tornado, the building not only sustained structural damage, but was also exposed to moisture. Most of the building had to be brought back to the studs.

"It was almost like rebuilding," Auch said. "All the walls had to be redone."

While insurance covered most of the cost for the reconstruction, there were other costly additions that had to be made to bring the church building up to code. Oscar said they were required to add a fire sprinkler system at a cost of $100,000.

Now, 10 months later, the work is complete. Walls have been erected. Insulation has been replaced. Ceilings have been repaired. New flooring has been laid. And the new walls have been painted. The congregation is ready to rejoice.

"We're trying to make a splash," Auch said. "We want to let people know we're here to minister to their needs."

WHO: Prayer House Assembly of God Church

WHAT: A weekend-long grand opening celebration

WHERE: 1525 24th Ave., Kenosha

WHEN: Beginning at 3 p.m. Nov. 21, the church will host football and soccer games, dinner, comedy by Joe Kessler, concerts by Leo at 7:30 p.m. and the spark at 9:30 p.m. On Nov. 22 there will be a children's carnival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with games, a movie room, video arcade, an ice cream bar and professional illusionist DJ Ehlert. Sunday worship on Nov. 23 will be at 10 a.m., followed by a dedication service at 3:30 p.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call (262) 595-0500 or visit the Web at http://PrayerHouseAG.org