CITRUS HEIGHTS–

Just seeing the words Sandy Hook Elementary and all the names of the victims brings an instant sadness to all of our hearts.

A pastor captured video from his trip. In it, you see victims names being erected on a fence. In Newtown, Connecticut the 26 victims are being remembered never to be forgotten.

“We found the community in shock, the people were hurting,” says Senior Pastor Rhodes Pringle of Antelope Road Christian Fellowship.

The Citrus Heights pastor took up an offering and donations traveling to Newtown to give the people there hope, faith, and love.

“I didn’t go there as a pastor, I didn’t tell one person I was a pastor.”

Pastor Pringle says he will never forget where he was the day he learned there was a mass shooting inside an elementary school.

“I couldn’t believe it. How could this happen?”

The church congregation says they were in shock too and a sense of fear overwhelmed them.

“My first instinct was to make sure my kids were safe and protected,” says Leslie Smith.

Gunfire erupted inside a school; a place considered safe, innocent, and sacred. Pastor Pringle says he believes the healing process will begin and he learned the most important lesson during his visit to Newtown.

“I remember a sign that was being passed around in all the stores. It read, we are Sandy Hook and we choose love. I was affected by that … and yet beyond that we serve a loving a God.”