California Fires Highlight Importance of Faith-Based, Community Volunteerism
(ANALYSIS) The accusations are flying on the Left Coast. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is taking heat for her handling of the crisis in both the media and – especially – on social media. Newsweek asked, “Where is Karen Bass?” A New York Post headline declared that she “blunders her way through” press conferences and other vital aspects of her job.
And Bass is not the only media-ordained villain. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval ratings were underwater before the wildfires, and they will drop further in the face of withering questions about how his administration prepared for this crisis.
According to The Hill newspaper, Newsom “is facing questions about whether state officials were unprepared for the wildfires raging through Los Angeles, and whether more preventative measures could have been taken.” The Hill also speculates about whether his handling of the situation could impact his expected 2028 presidential campaign.
All these questions are, as the Bible says, “too wondrous for me.” It will be years before we know all the causes and contributing factors for these California fires.
What I can say, though, is that local, faith-based efforts are — once again — among the first responders. They ignore the political questions and arguments about blame and are instead rolling up their sleeves and getting to work.
The Palisades fire in Los Angeles, California. (Video screenshot via ABC 10)
Though dozens of churches have been either damaged or destroyed, they are nonetheless stepping up to help their neighbors. Religion News Service reported that The Salvation Army, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles are among those groups that have already begun fire relief efforts.
The article concludes, “The Mutual Aid of Los Angeles Network, a group founded during the COVID-19 pandemic to help coordinate donations and services to those in need, has also put together a list of groups offering help to those affected by the blazes.”
A disaster relief team from Virginia Beach-based Operation Blessing is headed to southern California to help residents. The team is led by Diego Traverso, director of International Disaster Relief, who most recently oversaw Operation Blessing’s ongoing Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in North Carolina.
Also, in partnership with World Vision, Operation Blessing dispatched a tractor-trailer truckload of emergency relief supplies from the organization’s Grand Prairie, Texas warehouse. The truck arrived Jan. 10.
Many local church leaders are helping despite their own losses. “Two elders at Pacific Crossroads and many of its congregants living in the Palisades and on the east side of LA have lost everything,” Christianity Today reported. Nonetheless, “the church is coordinating aid through its Hope for LA ministry.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is also deploying crisis trained chaplains to the area.
You can be a part of this “Faith-Based FEMA” by donating to ministries with experience in disaster relief and recovery. But take a few minutes to do your homework. MinistryWatch gives ministries a Donor Confidence Score, a Financial Efficiency Rating and a Transparency Grade (You can search on a ministry and check their scores here). Do not give money to poorly rated ministries, or to ministries that do share enough information to produce a rating.
Also, remember that the world is watching at times like these. There will be a time to debrief regarding what happened, to determine what caused this disaster. But now, people are suffering and need our help.
Let us be known as the people who rushed in to meet that need.
This article was originally published at MinistryWatch.
Warren Cole Smith is the editor in chief of Ministry Watch and previously served as Vice President of WORLD News Group, publisher of WORLD Magazine and has more than 30 years of experience as a writer, editor, marketing professional, and entrepreneur. Before launching a career in Christian journalism 20 years ago, Smith spent more than seven years as the Marketing Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers.