California Churches Resolute in Face of Disaster

When a cantor at an 80-year-old Pasadena synagogue realized the California wildfires were drawing near, she had only one thought: Save the sacred scrolls.

The synagogue's Torah scrolls, she explained, were "the heartbeat of any Jewish community."

So cantor Ruth Berman Harris and her friends embarked on a race to rescue the scrolls stored at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center.

No sooner did they hit the road, however, than they soon discovered all the major highways were closed. In response to the emergency, authorities had shut them all down.

But as reported by The Associated Press, Harris and her comrades refused to give up. So they embarked on a dangerous, winding trek along backroads and byways, racing against the winds and the fire and time to finally reach their beloved synagogue.

When they pulled into the parking lot, they knew there wasn't a second to waste. They hurriedly collected the scrolls, jumped back in their vehicles, and fled for their lives just before the blistering fire swept in.

Today, they find it hard to fully express what saving those Torah scrolls meant.

Those scrolls, you see, are about all they have left. Everything else was burned to the ground, and many synagogue members' homes were lost.

Largely unreported is that houses of worship were especially hard hit by the historic conflagration that raged for 24 days in Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia, and Sunset. The casualties included a mosque, a Catholic parish, and over a dozen Protestant churches and ministries.

Our CityServe network of churches was among the first relief groups on the scene, and what our volunteers witnessed was nothing short of apocalyptic.

An area in Southern California twice the size of Manhattan had been reduced to rubble and ashes. The damage is ultimately expected to exceed over $250 billion.

In many respects, our recovery work is only just beginning. With over 2,000 structures destroyed and nearly 200,000 people displaced, we frankly need all hands on deck.

The good news is the truly extraordinary relief effort that's being led by faith-based organizations. Pastor Jack Hibbs, senior pastor and founder of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, recently sent me a note that captures the extraordinary spirit of all those locking arms to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus to those who've lost so much.

"I believe that this is the hour for the church in California to shine her light like never before," Pastor Hibbs told me.

Pastor Hibbs is absolutely right. This is our moment to make an eternal difference in the lives of our grief-stricken neighbors who have nowhere else to turn.  

That's why I am proud to report that CityServe has distributed over $3 million in emergency relief supplies, including truckloads of pallets stacked with food, water, shoes, home essentials, and clothing.

The highlights of our relief campaign include:

• CityServe partners PublicSquare and Everylife have provided hundreds of boxes containing thousands of diapers and other items to families in need. That might sound unimportant; but whenever disaster strikes, hygiene items for babies and infants are among the most sought-after needs.
• Jockey and Nike have donated over 20 pallets of clothing. Incredibly, many victims escaped only with the clothes they were wearing.
• Other nonprofit relief partners, including Love Has No Limits, Fearless Church, and the LA Dream Center, have played vital roles. Emergency relief is a team effort; we are eternally grateful for the donations and contributions that make our relief efforts possible.
• Students in Bakersfield wanted to help. So they began collecting donations to provide plushies to all the children in the greater Los Angeles area who have seen their normal lives painfully uprooted.
• Fashion icon, author, and former presidential adviser Ivanka Trump joined CityServe at Altadena's Expressions Church to hand out relief supplies, lift spirits, and hear the harrowing stories of the firestorm survivors. The enormous empathy she showed made a huge difference. After touring the Dream Center along with its president, Matthew Barnett, Ivanka said, "Thank you for all of your efforts. It was great to see what you do firsthand."

Even as the focus on the catastrophic devastation in the greater LA area seems to be fading, we at CityServe are determined to stay the course.

I am reminded of the assurance found in I Corinthians 13:13 that "there are these three things that endure: faith, hope, and love."

Our heartfelt prayer is that showing God's love to those who've lost so much will help to strengthen their faith and restore their lost hope. Please keep them in your prayers.

Perhaps the Rev. J. Andre Wilson of Altadena United Methodist Church put it best.

You see, Rev. Wilson's church building was burned to the ground, as were the homes of many of his members.

Yet Rev. Wilson took to Facebook to insist that the church endured.

"Our building is gone," he wrote. "But YOU and US are the church."

And to those words of wisdom I say, "Amen!"

His father's death and mother's debilitating injury due to a drunk driver at age 9 propelled Dave Donaldson to dedicate his life to building healthier families and stronger communities worldwide. In 2017, he co-founded CityServe International, which has since distributed over $1.2 billion of goods to communities in need. Read more of Dave Donaldson's reports — Here.