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The church and its members are facing eviction on May 20 after Burke County building inspectors deemed the building unsafe to live in. Members of the church are living in the building, the former elementary school at 8123 George Hildebran School Road.

On Thursday, the Burke County Board of Commissioners heard an appeal to the eviction. The board held up the eviction but gave the church 30 days to produce a written estimate of repairs from a contractor, a written line of credit from a bank or another lending institution and grants the group can obtain to help with repairs to avoid eviction.

Church Pastor Tommy Laibwij did not have an attorney representing him during the quasi-judicial hearing, but his church members and some folks from the George Hildebrand community turned up to support him.

Attorney Martha Thompson from Cleveland County was special counsel to the board, and Attorney Dylan Laws represented Chief Building Inspector Steve Holden and Chief Fire Marshal Robert Bishop during the proceedings.

Church members have been living in the former elementary school building and an annex building, according to the county. Holden and Bishop have said the buildings are not safe for people to live in and presented photo evidence during the hearing of the buildings’ conditions. The photos show peeling lead paint, inadequate plumbing, unsafe electrical wiring, defective construction and decay.

Holden testified that he did a room-by-room inspection of the buildings in January 2024 and found numerous violations. Bishop also testified about the unsafe conditions.

As Bishop spoke, Josh Robinson, who was in the audience, stood up and told commissioners that Laibwij doesn’t speak English well and cannot read the notices that have been delivered to him pertaining to the case. Robinson said Laibwij’s rights are being violated.

Board Chair Jeff Brittain asked him to be seated, and Robinson said he would see himself out.

Brittain asked for the interpreter who was in the room to come forward to interpret for Laibwij. The primary language of the Marshall Islands is Marshallese.

Bishop said an interpreter was available during inspections of the buildings.

Laibwij testified that when he purchased the building in 2022 from a church, he wasn’t aware of any issues and no one warned him it wasn’t safe for occupancy. He said the Marshall Islands do not have building codes, and they were just excited to have a place to live.

He asked for a permit and some time, 12 months, to fix things at the buildings.

The group has received a period of grace previously. After receiving an eviction notice from the county in November 2022, Laibwij appealed. In December 2022, Laibwij received a building permit to renovate the structure, which was issued by the Burke County Community Development staff.

County officials said improvements were not made to the buildings.

On March 10, the county posted the building and its annex as unsafe and a hearing was held on March 21, where the county ordered the eviction.

During the hearing Thursday, Laibwij said he doesn’t know where the congregation living at the old school will go if they are evicted.

Representatives of the Western Piedmont Council of Governments Homeless Task Force were at the hearing. A representative said the group works with anybody experiencing or in danger of experiencing homelessness. The organization also can connect people to financial resources, either within its agencies or through partner agencies with which they work.

Commissioners will come back together in 30 days to see if Laibwij has met the conditions to determine if the eviction will go forward.