Stories tagged with: california wildfires

• Camp Fire relief winds down; churches 'still here'

  by David Roach/California Baptist, posted Tuesday, July 09, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  File photo from Facebook

  PARADISE, Calif. (BP) -- Months after the deadliest wildfire in state history destroyed her home, an 86-year-old woman in Northern California's Butte County was forced to leave her temporary residence at Motel 6 when her federal aid expired. So she asked Magalia Pines Baptist Church in Magalia for help.

  That very day someone donated a fifth-wheel trailer to the church, and members began setting it up on her property as a temporary residence. Read More

• After Calif. wildfire, 'God just keeps' providing

  by David Roach, posted Tuesday, January 08, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  Photo from Facebook

  MAGALIA, Calif. (BP) -- His town devastated by the deadliest wildfire in California history, Pastor Doug Crowder was leading Magalia (Calif.) Pines Baptist Church to serve 300-500 meals per day to the community. The problem was he had no bread to make the French toast his cook had planned for the next day's breakfast.

  That's when a man from a local food bank walked up and said, "Hi, I'm Chuck.... Our warehouse burned down, and we need to get rid of some stuff. Do you need any bread?"

  Such unexpected provision, Crowder told Baptist Press, repeatedly has sustained community ministry by Magalia Pines even though the congregation launched its effort weeks ago with no money and no food. Through their ministry, the church also has seen a spiritual harvest in Magalia, which was approximately half destroyed by November's Camp Fire. Read More

• 'The woods exploded' amid pastor's fire rescue

  by David Roach, posted Monday, November 12, 2018 (5 years ago)

  

  CBSnews.com screen capture.

  MAGALIA, Calif. (BP) -- When one of the deadliest wildfires in state history struck the Northern California town of Magalia, pastor Doug Crowder didn't get to preach his Veterans Day sermon about risking death to save others. But he got to live it.

  With the Camp Fire speeding toward Magalia in the early hours of the morning Nov. 9, Crowder, pastor of Magalia Pines Baptist Church, was loading into vehicles about 30 people who had been unable to evacuate the town. They had taken shelter at the church building with him and four other church members. "We were in the driveway planning to leave," Crowder told Baptist Press through tears, "and the entire world erupted." Read More

• Wildfire skirts CA church, pastor shares scary moments

  by Diana Chandler, posted Friday, December 08, 2017 (5 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from Reuters

  VENTURA, Calif. (BP) -- When the massive Thomas wildfire rushed the boundaries of Springs of Life Baptist Church in Ventura, Calif., Dec. 5, pastor Doug Jones was onsite with firefighters and others working to save the church, nearby homes and livestock.

  Jones described the "terrifying" scene to Baptist Press today (Dec. 8). His church serves as a staging area for perhaps 60 Unified Command firefighters who manned 12 fire engines near the church in the quaint mountain community of Casitas Springs in Ventura. Read More

• So. Calif. churches in wildfire path; DR on standby

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, December 06, 2017 (5 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from WeatherNetwork.com

  VENTURA, Calif. (BP) -- With five wildfires burning in California, the latest in Los Angeles, Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers are on standby and several church facilities are unreachable, ministry leaders there told Baptist Press.

  The Thomas fire in Ventura, the largest, is threatening churches in the Gold Coast Baptist Association that are included in mandatory evacuation zones, Director of Missions Vern Hancock said. Springs of Life Church in the Casitas Springs community of Ventura was in imminent danger, but Hancock had been unable to contact its pastor Douglas Jones by BP's deadline today (Dec. 6). Read More

• CA fires: DR begins, former Gateway campus a shelter

  by David Roach, posted Tuesday, October 17, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from The Sacramento Bee

  SANTA ROSA, Calif. (BP) -- As firefighters gained ground against the Northern California blaze Gov. Jerry Brown called perhaps "the greatest tragedy" the state "has ever faced," Southern Baptist disaster relief crews began feeding, cleanup and chaplaincy work today (Oct. 17).

  Meanwhile, the former main campus of Gateway Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif., was being used to shelter both evacuees and out-of-town fire crews, and a pastor in Calistoga, Calif., credited prayer with saving his town. Read More

• Calif. wildfires rage, churches 'jumping into action'

  by David Roach, posted Tuesday, October 10, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from CNN

  SANTA ROSA, Calif. (BP) -- Amid Northern California wildfires that have killed at least 13 people and burned more than 1,500 buildings since Oct. 8, Southern Baptist churches have begun ministering and California Southern Baptist Convention disaster relief crews are poised for relief work.

  The death toll is expected to rise, according to media reports, and more than 100 people have been reported missing. As of Monday night (Oct. 10), several of the 17 fires had not been contained. Read More

• Baptists honor firefighters with early Thanksgiving

  by By Kelli Cottrell, posted Wednesday, November 26, 2003 (20 years ago)

  SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (BP)--Local firefighters, who put in up to two weeks with no down time fighting Southern California's worst wildfires, were treated to an early Thanksgiving feast and honored by Northpark Community Church. Read More

• Calif. fires claimed her home, but not her faith

  by Leah Kimble, posted Monday, November 17, 2003 (20 years ago)

  RIVERSIDE, Calif. (BP)--Ashes fell from the sky like snowflakes on a cold winter morning -- but it was neither cold nor winter. It seemed that California Baptist University would remain untouched by the blazing inferno that covered thousands of acres across Southern California. Read More

• Churches gear up for cleanup, added ministry after wildfires

  by Kelli Cottrell, posted Friday, November 07, 2003 (20 years ago)

  Turning the page As numbers dwindle in the shelters that once housed thousands of evacuees from Southern California's wildfires - Robert Holebrook from Lake Arrowhead, among them, shown here reading a Bible -- Baptist churches are gearing up to assist in cleanup across the region and minister to other fire victims' needs. Photo by Morris Abernathy

  SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (BP)--With California's worst wildfires now contained, Baptist churches are banding together for the cleanup phase and in other ministry efforts. Read More