'Brisket Bandits' Don't Deter Texas Church's Outreach: Irving's Bear Creek Church Receives Donated Briskets After Theft
Two briskets smoked by Pastor Dennis Webb of Bear Creek Community Church in Irving, Texas, for an annual fundraising dinner benefiting the church's Many Helping Hands homeless ministry were stolen a few weeks ago, Baptist Press reported on October 30. Webb said something did not look right as he checked the meat; after retracing his steps, he confirmed from security camera footage that the briskets were gone.
The two briskets were valued at $300 apiece. The church turned its security footage over to police and filed a report. Days later, one of the thieves turned himself in to the Irving Police Department and named his accomplice; police learned the men had sold the two briskets. Webb said the man who turned himself in had been served food at the church earlier that same day, and that an officer told him the man was remorseful.
As word spread, a local radio show host interviewed Webb and donated 20 briskets to make up for the loss; with no room to store them all, he brought 10 last week, which Webb used for the youth group fundraiser. "Everyone now talks about the 'brisket bandits' and wants to know about my barbecue," Webb said.
The church's outreach has continued: alongside food, Bear Creek provides medical and counseling services for homeless neighbors, a portable shower trailer and shelter in the winter months, and church members offer free tutoring on Friday evenings for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. The congregation grew out of a support group Webb started in his home and formally launched with 37 people; in 2006 it purchased the 26,000-square-foot facility it now calls home. In 2017, a three-alarm fire destroyed its 4,000-square-foot sanctuary, and members have spent nine years raising funds for a new 7,500-square-foot worship center, paying cash as they go so the church carries no debt.
(Source: Baptist Press)
Source: Baptist Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 烟熏牛胸肉（资料图）。Johnsparks75 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Smoked brisket (file photo). Photo by Johnsparks75, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
