During the Sunday night worship service, Pastor Gary Marsh of Victory Chapel First Phoenix (VCFP), whose 26-year-old outreach director, Hans Schmidt, was shot in the head last week (Nov. 15) while he was street preaching near the church, told the congregation that the church is “never going to stop preaching on the streets.”
Schmidt was street preaching through a megaphone on the corner of 51st Avenue and Peoria in Glendale, Arizona, around 6 p.m. last Wednesday before the VCFP church service started when he was shot in the head.
The young outreach director remains in critical condition as law enforcement continue to search for who pulled the trigger.
RELATED: Arizona Street Preacher in Critical Condition After Being Shot in Head
“We are not wishing evil things upon the perpetrator, but pray that he would at least be brought to light and let the law system handle him,” Marsh said. “We’re not going to go hunt his head but let the law take care of him. Let it come to light, and let it be found out who he, she—whatever it is—become known.”
“We’re never going to stop doing God’s work. We’re never going to stop preaching on the streets,” Marsh said later in the service. “We’re never going to stop outreaching and sharing the gospel. We’re never going to stop proclaiming the name of Jesus to a lost world. That’s never going to end in this congregation.”
“I give you my word and even if I’m not around, the guy that follows me, he’s going to be more radical than I am, just plan on that,” he added. “That’s what we are. That’s who we are as a fellowship.”
Earlier that day in the morning worship service, the church leader giving the announcements shared that two days after Schmidt had been shot, over 100 people gathered on the street corner to preach, including other churches who heard what had happened.
