GOSPEL INSPIRES PLAN TO REBUILD
By Kaye Ross
Mercury News
It was a large fire in a time of global conflagration.
Suicide bombings in Israel had reached a zenith with a deadly attack on Passover. Palestinian gunmen were barricaded in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Israeli tanks tore through the West Bank, destroying homes and Palestinian lives. Synagogues were vandalized in Europe.
In Los Altos Hills during the wee hours of Sunday, April 7, 2002, someone entered the Antiochian Orthodox Church of the Redeemer, poured flammable liquid on the sanctuary floor and ignited it. By the time the Rev. Samer Youssef was notified, there wasn't much left.
When the smoldering ruins cooled, Youssef waded into the wreckage to see what, if anything, could be salvaged.
There lay the Gospel. The gold leaf of its ornate cover had melted like caramel over the top. The first 60 pages or so were burned through. As pieces of the book crumbled in his hands, Youssef finally came to a page with printing visible. The carbonized top and bottom of the book framed this verse:
You have heard that it was said, ``An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'' But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.''
Youssef was amazed. ``Here we were in the middle of the turmoil, and the hand of God stretches out to us,'' he said.
It was a message everyone held close, because anger was close at hand. The church is Christian, but the ancient painted icons of saints around the altar and the fact that 70 percent of the congregation is Arab American could have inspired a hate crime.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives deemed the fire arson. The federal agency, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, politicians, firefighters and community groups put together $41,000 in reward money, but nothing solid ever materialized.
It was a hateful act,'' said parishioner Maria Segal of Cupertino,whether you call it a hate crime or not.''
What little of the church that was left was demolished and the site fenced.
For some time, Youssef's 2-year-old son, Dimitry, would toddle over to the fence and stand, staring east toward where the church used to be. Two urns with flowers now mark either side of the old entryway.
For a long while, Youssef said, the congregation was just as devastated. There were many tears of sadness for the loss of the building,'' he said,but behind that was great determination.'' The congregation wanted to rebuild, and found courage in their faith.
The congregation pitched a kind of large tent-cabin over a former courtyard as a place to hold services. Most of the nearly life-size icons placed around the sanctuary were lost in the fire. But someone found others that had been stored in a closet and had largely escaped the flames.
``The message we found in the Gospel was a message not just for us, but for everyone, really,'' said Segal, who, with her husband and three children, has belonged to the church for years.
A number of people heard that message.
Most of the Los Altos and Los Altos Hills church choirs came together on July 14, 2002, for a concert to benefit the church's rebuilding fund -- raising about $23,000. A class in the Mid-Peninsula Jewish Community Day School in Palo Alto raised $1,300 with a bake sale. Individuals sent checks.
Youssef was called to give the invocation last year to the House of Representatives, where he shared the message of the charred Gospel with members of Congress.
The church has received $1.5 million from an insurance settlement and earlier this month got the county's approval to build a three-phase, 24,800-square-foot structure. Groundbreaking could come in February.
An architect has begun working with designs for the first two phases, but Youssef said the final phase, a banquet hall, may not be built until more money is raised.
The church's biggest fundraiser of the year -- the 22nd annual International Food Festival -- is coming up Saturday and Sunday, and the congregation is enjoying working together on a concrete goal. All the proceeds will go toward the new church.
It's important to know that something like this can happen,'' said Segal,and that we've overcome, that evil is overcome with goodness.
``As it will be with time.''
The food festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday at the church, 380 Magdalena Ave., Los Altos Hills. For more information, call (650) 941-1570.