Wildfires in California

No doubt you are aware of the massive fires raging in Southern California, with over 650 square miles burnt and nearly a million people displaced.

Mark Lauterbach is senior paster of our sister church in San Diego. He, like most of his congregation, has been evacuated from his home. In an email, yesterday, Mark wrote the following:

At the level of human eyes looking at this, it is devastating. Fires in North, Central, and South San Diego county all burning out of control with strong winds, now shifting directions and taking the fire in new directions. It looks like about 60% of the county will be evacuated at some time.

It is probably as close to apocalyptic as I have seen....I look at maps of the firelines ...and I see the reality of the last day when fire will consume and all things will be shaken.

God has given our people great grace to trust and to serve and to care for each other. The prayer would be for the Gospel to advance through this time and for specific ways we can serve people. We need faith and clarity in how to do that.

There are a number of injuries among the firefighters, two have been placed in a medically induced coma because their burns are so bad. Please pray for them. Please pray for the firefighters in general. A tent city has been set up at Kit Carson Park (near our house), where these exhausted, dehydrated workers can get some rest. Please pray that God will sustain them and grant them grace. Please pray that God will cause this weather pattern to die down. The wind is the primary mover of these fires and until the Lord causes it to cease, they will continue. The humidity has fallen to 4% (and in some areas is 0%), so all of the vegetation simply explodes when an ember lands on it. The air is unbreathable because it is filled with smoke and ash. It looks like falling snow, but it is hot and the chemicals burn your mouth and lungs. Everything tastes like charcoal. Everyone has been warned to stay inside as much as possible. If you go outside you have to wear a mask. The inside my house smells like a camp fire. All businesses (aside from necessary life support and some grocery stores and gas stations) are closed. All schools are closed in all San Diego county even in areas unaffected by the fires because of the air quality. The sun looks like an orange ball in a dark brown sky. (Sorry, that's not very poetic, but it's the best I can muster right now!) Please pray for the health of those who have to be outside and for children, the elderly and the infirm who are more affected by the air quality.

Let's pray for firefighters, their families, and these communities of displaced people. Let's pray that no more life would be lost, and ask our God to pour out grace in the midst of this destruction.