The Jesus Worship Center’s two campuses were vandalized over the weekend with graffiti depicting satanic symbols and vulgar phrases.
The two Jennings campuses, which are three miles apart, were spray painted with the words “Devil Has Risen,” a pentagram and a cross and profanity.
The first act happened Friday at 3:30 a.m. when two people were recorded hanging around the church’s north campus, Pastor Clifton LeJeune said. The second act happened Monday morning around 3:30 a.m. when one individual was seen around the church’s secondary campus.
LeJeune, who has been a pastor since 1995, said his church has never been a victim of vandalism but said the act will not deter his church’s mission.
“The church is growing explosively and God has been doing amazing work here,” LeJeune said. “It doesn’t discourage us. In fact, it is the exact opposite and invigorates us and it validates what God is doing.”
LeJeune said he believes he knows the identity of the vandals. One signed his graffiti with the initial’s EP, which LeJeune used to search social media. He found a man in town that fits the profile of one of vandals and sent it to the Jennings Police Department. He believes the men to be in their mid-20s.
“We’re probably 80% certain we figured out who they were,” LeJeune said.
Another leader in his church also suffered an act of vandalism over the weekend, LeJeune said. The leader’s tire was punctured with a pair of scissors the same night the secondary campus was vandalized.
LeJeune believes the vandalism is the result of the church’s considerable growth over the years. That same weekend, the church added a second service to facilitate its 400 worshippers, he said. He also believes the church’s work with drug addicts, former gang members, and recently incarcerated individuals is another reason his church was targeted, he said.
“The reason we are having these consequences, in my opinion, because what we’re doing matters and it’s on the devil’s radar. No other churches to my knowledge were tagged,” LeJeune said.
Church leadership has since removed the graffiti with a coat of paint and power washers. LeJeune said the church has received a wave of support from it’s congregation and the locals.
“We’ve had several families and other ministers of our organization contact us and let us know they’re praying for us and if there’s anything they can do for us,” LeJeune said.
He hopes that if the vandals are caught that he can sit down and talk to the them and convince them to join the church.
“It wouldn’t be shock to me if these individuals are in our church in the next six months to a year,” LeJeune said.
If anyone has information about the vandals contact the Jennings Police Department or Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office.