When Our Church was Tested by Fire
The entire ministry focus of the First Baptist Church of Pasadena, California changed dramatically between Sunday, January 4th and Sunday, January 12th. Between Tuesday, January 7th and Thursday, January 9th, more than 1,400 homes, businesses, schools and other buildings burned in the cities of Pasadena and Altadena, in the Eaton fire. The pastor of First Baptist Church tells a harrowing story of his family's evacuation of their own home, of having to go through the trauma of deciding which belongings were most important, and which ones they might not see again, and then, having to leave their house behind as flames, close enough to be seen from their roof, engulfed the northern streets of their city.
They were among those who were fortunate enough not to lose their homes. But several families who were members of the church community did, along with many others who took refuge in the church building which was opened as a shelter during the evacuation and has continued to serve in that capacity ever since. The congregation did gather for worship on Sunday, something the pastor says in the BNG article that they do best, and it became a time of not only giving comfort to those within the church who suffered such an unimaginable loss, but also to organize themselves, put their building to use as a place to organize relief for the community, and then determine how best to use their resources to shift to this ministry that has become a sudden and immediate priority.
They are, of their own initiative, not waiting for a hint or a push, stepping into the need and making themselves available, sacrificially. It's a natural thing to do for a church which understands the basic Christian principle of loving your neighbor as you love yourself.
The Church's Website Provides Ways for People to Help
The first thing to be seen when the website for https://fbcpasadena.com/ is open is the page providing information about the church's ministry in the wake of the wildfires. There are multiple ways listed there for people to help, information provided about exactly what the church is doing to help and indicating that this is their ministry priority now until the need is no longer there. The help and resources are available to anyone who is looking for either.
I would also suggest listening to the Daily Encouragement messages that are recorded there. Doing so will be an inspiration and a motivation to get beyond thoughts and prayers, and think of the people as fellow human beings, our neighbors, even if they are a long way off. These are people just like the rest of us, going about their regular business a week ago, never imagining that in a few short days, their home would be gone, and in some cases, family members, friends and neighbors would also lose their lives. The evacuation, with winds blowing down trees, smoke spreading everywhere, streets blocked, and traffic crawling as entire communities fled, must have been a terribly traumatic experience, as the pastor describes his family's evacuation.
So if this kind of tragedy is still a bit too far away to feel anything, then listening for a few moments is the right thing to do. It's far removed from the politics, indifference and hatred that's been spewed as a result of this tragedy. Here's a church providing an example for the rest of us to follow when it comes to loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.
No strings attached.
I read somewhere last week that 85% of the members of Congress claim to be Christian, of some kind or another. So how is it that the members of Congress who are both Christian and Republican don't want to offer relief for the fires without political strings attached to it? How evil is that? I'd suggest listening to some of the messages recorded by this church's pastor and taking heed.
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