Members of a Florida church brought Christmas gifts to a family as a replacement for packages that thieves stole from Noel Rivera’s front porch.
Rivera, from Riverview, Florida, said that two women simply walked away with his Amazon packages in broad daylight on Dec. 10.
Rivera has footage of the two women who can be heard anxiously whispering that the packages looked like children’s clothing.
“Hope they fit their kids because seems they may not have for Christmas,” Rivera said on Facebook. “If they would have just asked I would have bought their kids even more than they stole.”
But while the holidays bring out some of the worst in people, Christmas also brings out some of the best in all of us, too.
Just one day after his Christmas gifts were stolen, members from Rivera’s church, River of Life Christian Center, showed up at his doorstep with a surprise.
In stark contrast to the video of two women stealing boxes, two men approached the front door, carrying a number of boxes in their arms.
“We just wanted to help you guys out,” one of the men said.
https://www.facebook.com/fox5atlanta/videos/519347818578755/
“25hrs exactly after 2 ladies thought it would be ok to steal Christmas presents from my front door, my church family shows up at my front door unannounced showing Christ’s love,” Rivera wrote on Facebook.
Rivera felt incredibly blessed and was amazed by the unexpected delivery and said that it pointed to Jesus, the reason we celebrate Christmas.
“Christ is the reason for the season,” Rivera wrote. “These are the things that need to be remembered during this time and always.”
Rivera’s story soon began to spread on the internet as people thanked River of Life Christian Center for loving their community so well.
“I was in shock and quickly called my wife and told her to look at the cameras,” Rivera said.
Rivera’s camera footage also proved extremely helpful to local law enforcement, who had been searching for the porch pirate suspects.
Hillsborough County deputies arrested one of the porch thief suspects on Dec. 14, WTSP-TV reported, and are currently seeking a warrant to arrest the second suspect.
