The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG – Waitsburg Christian Church pastor Matt Wyatt regularly goes live on Facebook each day at noon when he gives a “Lunch Break” talk. Last Thursday, Wyatt announced that Lunch Break would be delayed while he dealt with some issues. He later went live to share that the church had been broken into the night before.

Wyatt said he left the church at 9:30 Wed. night, following the Celebrate Recovery program. When he arrived back at the office late Thursday morning, Wyatt said he went straight to the refrigerator because someone had promised to leave chicken enchiladas for him. He said his lunch was missing but didn’t think much of it, assuming the person had forgotten to leave it after all.

However, as Wyatt walked through the church, he noticed pieces of his meal scattered throughout the sanctuary and saw that his office door and front door were open. Wyatt said the intruder must have used a candle for light and wax was dripped throughout the church.

“I immediately felt sorrow for the person because the only thing that they took was food items,” Wyatt said. He said the intruder apparently sat down on the front porch of the church to eat.

Laptops and sound equipment were left untouched but Wyatt said he was most disappointed that a candy machine that he had recently bought for children to use while he does family counseling in his office, was taken.

Wyatt said the wax will take some time to clean up, but nothing of value was taken and there was no vandalism.

“It was someone who was hungry, apparently. Whether it was a homeless person or some kids, they were just hungry,” Wyatt said.

Wyatt said he notified the authorities, but encouraged his viewers to “take a different path, turn the other cheek, and entrust others into God’s hands.”