THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

Now we know that the fires that have burned both Paradise City in northern California and the northwest side region of Los Angeles are considered the worst fire in California history. Dozens of people are dead, hundreds more are still missing, and thousands of structures are gone in flame. And, here is the worst part: Thousands are now without homes. Most are still living in tents but what’s more disheartening is that many will go straight from being home owners to being homeless, meaning, they will not be able to re-build their homes. Tents will be their permanent, not temporary, homes.

This week will be Thanksgiving week; their hearts will be so full of sorrow that I wonder what they will say to God. But somehow, I believe many—if not most of them—will have something to thank God for. Perhaps they will thank God for keeping them alive and for re-uniting them with their loved ones. Perhaps they will thank God for the help that they are receiving from people like us—people who don’t know them but care for them.

We as a church want to be there for them. We want to tell them, even though we don’t know them, we care for them and we feel their pain and their losses. We hope and pray that they will get through this horrible time and they will continue to be positive and thankful because they know they are not alone.

From our end we want to help not only because it is our Christian duty to help but also because we humbly realize that what happened to them could also happen to us. You see, we could be the ones sitting down and sleeping in tents in some parking lot. We are not lucky or more blessed, no; the truth is for reasons unknown to us, we are spared. Yes, we’re spared so we can share.

Pastor Paul