November 1, 2007
“Everyone in our church was evacuated as a result of the fires,” said Paul Murray, who pastors North County Community Church in Rancho Bernardo, California. The 5 a.m. wake up call to the San Diego suburb set in motion an opportunity for the young church plant to reach out to its community.
“No one in our church lost a home,” Murray added, “and our church family immediately went to work in the fire-ravaged neighborhoods. We spent our time driving a pick-up truck filled with water, food, and homemade strainers that people could use to sift through the ashes to find valuables.”
The church has offered help with manual labor to anyone who needs it. Cards of encouragement have been distributed, and the congregation prayed for a number of families. “Probably our main source of help was to be available to people,” said Murray.
“We have identified one family that we are adopting as a church, helping them with as many of their needs as possible,” Murray continued. The young family with four small children lost everything in the fire, and NCCC is providing everything from cribs to babysitting while the parents meet with FEMA officials and insurance companies.
The church will help survivors through the holidays with meals and Christmas gifts, bringing as much normalcy to their lives as possible. “We don’t want to be a church that sits back and watches,” Murray concluded. “We believe that God has called us to make a difference today as well as for eternity.”