14 DAY TRIAL // After being cited with possession of venomous snakes by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and having his reptiles confiscated just a few weeks ago, Andrew Hamblin, pastor of Tabernacle Church of God in LaFollette, Tennessee vowed to continue preaching his religion with deadly snakes.
Andrew Hamblin is the pastor of the Tabernacle Church of God in the Appalachian mountains, part of a century old Pentecostal tradition that praises preaching with serpents. Andrew's faith is so strong that the fact that he is facing one year in prison because of illegally possessing 53 venomous snakes does not scare him.
Not even the four venomous snake bites he endured until now were enough to make him change his mind regarding the dangerous animals.
Under the laws of the state of Tennessee, anyone who is owning venomous snakes, this including zoos or circuses, must have a permit showing that the animal is kept in conditions that guarantee the public' safety. The young preacher doesn't mind about this kind of things and, even if jail time is knocking at his door, he continues his illegal activities.
His passion almost had him killed four times, but he survived with life-long consequences. One of his preaching instruments left him crippled back in 2010 after biting him on the knuckle and making him unable to use his fist.
Another incident almost led to the preacher bleeding out after being bit on the neck but, instead of being afraid or taking measures of precaution, the preacher believes his recovery is a direct result of God's will, according to DailyMail.
After he had his pet snakes confiscated, the snake-handler acquired others through his passionate followers that helped him smuggle the new creatures. During the sermons, the worshipers handle the dangerous animals while dancing, singing, speaking in tongues and believing God is protecting them from all evil.
The preacher is determined to fight the law in order to have his so-called religious freedom acknowledged. “We're Christians who believe in being saved by the blood of Jesus Christ just like any other – it's not like we're part of some different religion. I do feel it is an attack upon our religious freedom,” the Pentecostal pastor tells The Telegraph.
Andrew inherited the practice from his father who was also a serpent-handling preacher. They believe to have been chosen by God to handle the creatures and that the serpents are helping them show the divine power. The pastor compared his serpent preach to the Catholic use of wine, believing that every preacher has a unique way of showing his gift.
The authorities consider these kinds of customs to be “public safety hazards” and they are kind of right because Hamblin puts not only his life in danger but also the lives of the people present in the snake crawling church. The worst part is that you can also encounter children among the followers, but that doesn't seem to be of any concern.
Andrew Hamblin's interest for the moment is making his snake handling preaching habits public, and not keeping them secret like the rest of his fellow pastors. He hopes that his sect will be publicly known and accepted in the future.