Volunteers and chaplains are accompanying owners to their home sites as they are being let back into the scorched areas after the fires.
Over 50 volunteers set out today into the scarred remains left of Altadena, California, which was devastated by the Eaton Fire. They are helping homeowners sort through the ashes to retrieve personal property that may have tangible or sentimental value. As the LA County fires have claimed dozens of lives and destroyed thousands of structures over recent weeks, it is a small, first step toward recovery.
“We’ll help search through the ashes,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “That takes a team of people going through one part of the house looking through every square inch of ashes that are on the ground.
“We’ve found coin collections, picture albums that have somehow survived, rings, a lot of jewelry. Being able to give back to a homeowner even a little thing like a ring that’s survived means so much to them.”
Stocked with tools and supplies to support these efforts, a tractor-trailer disaster relief unit as well as smaller disaster relief vehicles are serving the Eaton Fire from Lake Avenue Church.
We have also deployed a disaster relief unit to the Palisades Fire, where we will begin sending in volunteers as soon as local officials give the go ahead. Our host church there is Cornerstone Church of West Los Angeles.
For information about volunteering to be the hands and feet of Jesus at either of these sites, visit spvolunteer.org.
“People need to tell their story,’ Graham said. “This is the most traumatic event of their life—how they escaped from the flames and got out of there. Chaplains will just listen and pray with them and encourage them, letting them know that God hasn’t turned His back on them, that God loves and care for them. It’s a very important ministry that helps them emotionally and spiritually.
“A lot of people are asking, ‘Why?’ Graham said. “That’s a hard question to answer but we want to reassure them of God’s love.”
Please continue to pray for LA County residents as they seek to recover from this horrific tragedy. Ask God to use Samaritan’s Purse staff and volunteers to show them God’s love at this critical time.
