LA Christians Keep The Faith As They Begin Post-Wildfires Recovery
PASADENA, Calif. — The pain is still raw.
The sobs are still hard to control.
A month after wildfires broke out that killed at least 29 people and destroyed thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area, Christians are still grappling with their losses.
“The media have moved on to something else, but we’re still experiencing this devastation and this heartbreak,” Keith Gibbs said after worship Sunday at the Lincoln Avenue Church of Christ — just across the 210 Freeway from the ravaged community of Altadena.
Gibbs, a retired U.S. Marine Corps staff sergeant, narrowly escaped the flames with his wife, Jenifer, and three young grandchildren.
“We got out by the grace of God,” said Gibbs, whose family fled about 3 a.m. Jan. 8 as the fast-moving inferno, which began the day before, raced toward them.
“Ashes were all over the car,” he recalled. “I didn’t think we were going to make it. I looked in the rearview mirror, and the house was already burning.”
While in the military, Gibbs served in the Gulf War and other combat zones.
To the 66-year-old veteran, the destruction in Altadena — unrecognizable houses, businesses, schools and churches — looks like a bomb exploded.
“There’s no words that can heal the pain that I feel, right?” said Gibbs, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to control his emotions.
“I’ve got PTSD from the military, and this only adds to the PTSD,” he added, referring to post-traumatic stress disorder. “This hurts to the core. But I’m not the only one going through this. There’s a lot of other people going through this.”
Pamela Gasper is one of them.
The Lincoln Avenue member woke up Jan. 8 to the smell of smoke. About 3 a.m., she heard sheriff’s deputies with loudspeakers warn residents to “get up and go.” She, her husband, Theophilus, and their daughter, Ashley, escaped with their lives.
With God’s help, Gasper’s family will be fine, she said, wiping tears from her eyes.
“From what I’m understanding, this could be two to two-and-a-half years,” she said of the rebuilding process. “So right now, we’re OK. … But in the future, I guess it just depends on how things fall in place.”
Christians helping with the Lincoln Avenue church’s disaster relief effort gather in a circle to pray. (Photo by Bobby Ross Jr.)
Serving in a time of need
In all, 10 families who attend the 75-member Lincoln Avenue church — a mile and a half from the Rose Bowl — lost houses.
The buildings of the nearby Altadena and Pasadena Churches of Christ burned to the ground. At least temporarily, some of their members are joining Lincoln Avenue for worship.
Even before the fire, the Lincoln Avenue church had an active food pantry.
In the tragedy’s wake, the congregation has turned its annex into a free clothing storeroom and distributed food and emergency supplies provided by Nashville, Tenn.-based Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort.
Lincoln Avenue member Rochelle Taylor, who is retired, has joined the volunteer effort day after day.
“After seeing the devastation, everything in my heart and my spirit just said I needed to be of service,” said Taylor, interviewed Saturday while sorting donated clothes.
Like Taylor, Altadena member Leslie Williams — now attending Lincoln Avenue — said she felt compelled to help with the disaster relief effort.
“I’m always donating and helping with any circumstances,” Williams said. “We’ve always given away stuff at the church up in Altadena. We had a food bank every Saturday.”
She has avoided going to see the burned church building.
“It’s just heartbreaking and very devastating,” she said. “I’m not ready yet because it’s just too hard.”
Another key volunteer, Lincoln Avenue member Eric McGlover, prayed during Sunday’s assembly for the fire victims.
“Father, we pray that their faith not waver,” McGlover said. “We pray, Father, that they’ll continue to hold on to your unchanging hands. For we know that you are able to do all things, Father.”
“Amen! Amen!” the congregation responded.
The Pasadena Church of Christ is shown after the fire. (Photo by Bobby Ross Jr.)
A faith that is tested
Lincoln Avenue’s senior minister, Rodney Davis, and his wife, Lejuene, had to evacuate their house.
But despite smoke damage, their residence stayed intact.
The same cannot be said for the preacher’s childhood home … or the neighborhood house where he shot hoops … or the elementary school he attended.
“This is the school,” he told The Chronicle Chronicle as he pointed toward a heap of rubble. “It’s completely gone.”
Davis became emotional as he visited the remains of the Altadena and Pasadena church buildings — both places where he had delivered guest sermons.
He shook his head in disbelief while examining the Pasadena church’s razed pulpit and baptistery area.
“That’s crazy,” he said of the scene.
Later, he trekked up the steps to the debris-filled lot where a Lincoln Avenue member’s home had stood.
“This lets you know where your faith stands,” the minister said as he drove away. “I’ve often said that a faith that isn’t tested can’t be a faith at all.”
Rochelle Taylor volunteers in the free clothing storeroom organized by the Lincoln Avenue church after the fire. (Photo by Bobby Ross Jr.)
Going through ‘those Job moments’
Despite mourning their losses, churchgoers who lost homes said their faith remains strong.
The house Lincoln Avenue member Kevin Anderson shared with his older brother, Warner, burned less than a month after their sister, Beverly Patterson, died.
“Job, he went through a lot,” Anderson said, referring to the Old Testament man of God. “He didn’t do anything wrong, but he went through a lot. We are all going to go through those Job moments … so we just have to have some patience.”
While Dorothy Broadway’s residence in Pasadena was spared, the fire claimed the homes of her two sons who live in Altadena: James and Jeffrey.
The Lincoln Avenue member owned the home where James lived. Jeffrey, the victim of a 2020 drive-by shooting, is paralyzed from the waist down, his mother said.
But the latest trial has not made her question her faith, Broadway said.
“God is in control,” she said. “He doesn’t make mistakes. So whatever the reason for this is, he knows. It can’t alter my faith at all.”
However, she prays that the circumstances will help bring her sons closer to God.
Since the fire destroyed her home and her church building, Altadena member Beverly Clay has stayed with family and worshiped with a new congregation — Lincoln Avenue.
Still, she trusts wholeheartedly in God.
“The Lord is the one who’s in charge,” she said, echoing fellow Christians. “The righteous, they can suffer right along with those who are not.
“I accept him, and I believe him, and I have faith,” she stressed. “I’m not down. I’m not depressed. I’m just thankful that he spared our lives.”
Gibbs, the retired Marine, said his family’s home was insured.
“A lot of people didn’t have insurance,” he said. “A lot of people lost their lives. So I’m in a better place than a whole lot of people. So that’s how I want to look at it. God has blessed me.”
He’s grateful, too, to be able to lean on fellow Christians going through the same circumstances
“We’re able to give each other spiritual support and guidance,” Gibbs said, “because this is hard.”
This piece is republished from The Christian Chronicle.
Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for ReligionUnplugged.com and serves as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.