Wildfire Relief:
Ways You Can Help

Pray

We have all asked ourselves what we could do in the face of the catastrophic fires which destroyed our neighborhoods. Let’s start praying communally. Every Thursday at 12:00 noon we lay down our current work for a few moments and pray as God directs us. The Thursday noon reminder email will include a short prayer, poem or thought to get us started that day.

  • Dear Friend,

    We have all asked ourselves what we could do in the face of the catastrophic fires which destroyed our neighborhoods. Let’s start praying communally. Every Thursday at 12:00 noon we lay down our current work for a few moments and pray as God directs us. We pray for the victims of the fires; the neighbors who have lost everything, the children whose schools burnt down, the people in retirement homes who are displaced and need care. We pray for everyone who has tried to stop the fires and lift up all who are helping to rebuild our communities.

    Prayer is a powerful tool. A great example is Jaqueline de Decker who prayed for Mother Teresa. For health reasons Ms. de Decker had to leave India and return to Belgium. She was not able to do the strenuous work Mother Teresa did in India, but she was able to support her with prayers. In a letter from 1953 Mother Teresa told Jaqueline that these prayers were giving her the courage to continue her work. She called Jaqueline her spiritual sister and her “second self.”

    So let us stand together, praise the Lord, and pray for God’s mercy during these trying times.

    I will send out a weekly reminder to anyone who wants to sign up for a weekly communal prayer. The reminder will include a short prayer, poem or thought to get us started that day.

    I hope you will be able to join us,

    Gabriele Bahnam

Walk Alongside Others

Here are some key questions to you can use when caring for others:

  • What happened?

  • How do you feel?

  • What is the hardest part for you?

  • Can I pray for you?

Remember, this is not the time to preach to people or try to spiritualize what or why this tragedy happened. Instead, follow the Holy Spirit's lead. He is the Comforter and is ready to release comfort to and through you.

  • 1) Don’t assume you know what they need or want. Find out what they need and work to meet those needs. Resist any urges to help yourself feel better because you’re “doing something.”

    2) Don't offer support that requires them to be somewhere at a specific time. They are living each day as it comes and while your offer to bring dinner at 7pm on Thursday is generous, they don't know where they'll be at 7pm or whether they'll be interested in dinner. 

    3) Don't ask them for the specifics. What did you lose is the worst question you can ask. 

    4) Whatever you do, don't ask to see pictures of their burnt down home and don't visit their burnt property unless you're specifically invited. This is extremely painful—like looking at a dead carcass of your memories.  

    5) The worst question and comments are those that somehow imply they could've done more. For example, don't casually mention "my friends in Altadena hosed down their house and their house was spared." or "My friends just cleared the brush from their house last year so their house is fine." 

    6) Don't tell them about other people who have it worse. Their pain is their own. Your compassion comes from listening, not telling.

    7) Don't "look on the positive" to them. Don't say "at least you're all safe. That's more important than things." That implies they don't already know that. Believe me, they do!

    8) Don’t  add to their grief. When I told one friend my house had burned, she broke down sobbing and I had to console her. This is not the time to break down about your grief in their loss.

    9) Don't tell them that this loss is the universe/God telling them something. If this is your belief, hold it to yourself. No one going through this wants to hear someone else interpret what the universe/God is telling them or that there is a lesson you think they need to learn. 

    10) The natural tendency is to try to learn from what happened by asking detailed questions that will keep us safe in the future. Don't do that. Don't ask if they evacuated on time or their smoke alarms went off or if they hosed down their house. Simply tell them you are grateful they are safe. You are there for them, whatever they need. And let them tell you their story when they're ready. The most wonderful thing someone did for me — something I'll never forget — is to bring me a cup of tea and stand with me quietly. 

Give

A lot of donation centers are currently overwhelmed with clothing and supplies. Giving financially can help meet other, long-term needs. Here are two ways to give financially:

  1. Anglican Relief and Development Fund has a very low overhead and is working directly with Anglican congregations most impacted by the fires. ARDF functions like a long-term case manager, sticking with families over the long haul. Pooling donations from many people, ARDF can leverage financial resources and target areas of greatest need.

  2. Give directly to someone through gift cards, Go Fund Me, etc. If you give directly, your gifts may go to anyone you choose, and to a braoder range of people than just Anglicans. However, be aware that Go Fund Me takes a large percentage and some accounts are fraudulent. Use the link below to go to our Facebook page where we have posted Go Fund Me accounts of people someone in our congregation knows personally.

Serve

The main way we have to serve at this time is what we call an “Ash Out.”  We will be joining local churches and Bethel Global Response to assist Altadena and Pasadena residents in recovering personal items from their homes lost in the Eaton Fire.

You can also serve in different ways through other organizations, such as Samaritan’s Purse, who are partnering with Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena.

  • Please note this service can involve strenuous physical labor.

    • There are two shifts a day (half day morning and half day afternoon) and we are looking for about 25 people per shift.

    • The shifts will divide into two groups of 10 and do one house each.

    • All safety gear is provided.

    • Training happens the first half hour of the shift.

    • Volunteers must be capable of standing and working in an environmental suit for 4 hours.

    • The work is recovery of valuables from the ash.

    • There is a need for some folks to be around to listen to homeowners and pray with them. These people should be selected carefully.

    • If your church wants to take shifts together as a team, that is encouraged. Sign up form doesn’t accommodate that, so we’ll need to figure that out. » Please list "St. Luke's Anglican Montrose" as your church on the form so we can all be listed together in their database to eventually serve together

    • We don’t know the exact day we will be able to get access. So, the dates on the forms may change. We’ll work with folks to re-schedule when the time comes.

Care For Yourself

You may or may not have suffered physical damage or loss of personal property in the fires. But, all of us have felt to some degree the heaviness of heart, shock, anxiety, sadness, and inability to focus. Many describe feeling like they are in a daze. Please know that these are normal and expected emotional symptoms of trauma. Even if you didn’t personally lose anything, secondary/vicarious trauma is real.

    • Giving yourself grace to feel, to grieve, and to not be “ok”.

    • Talking about what you’re feeling with a trusted friend or family member.

    • Taking breaks from social media, news reports, and texting people to check in with them.

    • Remembering to eat, even if you don’t feel like it. Your body and nervous system need fuel for the emotional and physical toll of tragedy.

    • Resting. Take a nap or closing your eyes at points throughout the day.

    • Read comforting Scripture. Our papa, Brian Simmons, talks about the Word of God being infused with the Holy Spirit’s power to perform what is written there. Receive the ministry and power of the Word as you read.

    • Listening to worship music. This is especially helpful if you can’t focus on reading the Word. Let others sing it over you.

    • Reconnect with yourself through helpful grounding exercises, found toward the bottom of THIS page from Epicentre Church.

(Many resources on this page, including text content, have been copied from other churches and ministries.)