When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. (Isa 43:2)
Woods ‘exploded’: California pastor tells of surviving deadly Camp Fire by sheltering in church
A pastor who has survived one of the deadly wildfires ravaging parts of California has spoken of how he and others escaped by taking refuge in his church building.
Doug Crowder, pastor of Magalia Pines Baptist Church, told Baptist Press he was helping evacuate around 30 people from the town because of the danger from the Camp Fire, one of the worst in California’s history.
The group was in the driveway of the church preparing to leave when suddenly ‘the woods exploded. The Subway restaurant across the street exploded, and on all sides of us was fire.’
They took refuge in the church building, watching the flames consume neighbouring buildings. Thousands of gallons of propane denonated at a hardware store next door.
Crowder told BP that when they emerged the next day, everything around the church had been destroyed but they were ‘totally unscathed’.
Most residents of Magalia and nearby Paradise had already gone, but Crowder had stayed to help the elderly, homeless and others who had been unable to leave.
His own home was destroyed along with those of three-quarters of the congregation, and his church is one of the only buildings left standing in the town. It is currently being used to house firefighters.
Crowder told BP it would be ‘years’ before Magalia was a town again. ‘But all through that, our church will be standing and our church will be ministering,’ he said.
The church will draw on assistance from the California Southern Baptist Convention’s disaster relief ministry to support local people when they are allowed back.
Charles Woods, director of missions for the local Sierra Butte Baptist Association, told BP three other Southern Baptist churches have been affected by the Camp Fire, with the death of a member reported by at least one of those congregations. None of the churches has lost its building, but all the pastors’ homes were destroyed.
The Camp Fire blaze has killed at least 42 people. Another 228 have been listed as missing.
Another two people have died in the separate Woolsey Fire that has destroyed 435 structures and displaced about 200,000 people in the mountains and foothills near Southern California’s Malibu coast, west of Los Angeles.
Camp Fire – already ranked as the most destructive on record in California in terms of property losses – has consumed more than 7,100 homes and other structures since igniting on Thursday in Butte County’s Sierra foothills, about 175 miles (280 km) north of San Francisco.
This reminds me of St. Paul’s Chapel that remained totally intact when the twin towers fell!
Nehemia Gordon found the plaque above the altar with the name of YHVH in Hebrew in that church! Amen
In reality, St Paul’s Chapel is several blocks up the street from the Twin Towers. Between the chapel and ground zero, there are many other buildings that are still standing as well. So the fact that it’s still standing isn’t as dramatic as one may think. I made the walk between ground zero and the chapel when I was there in 2010. I was rather surprised to see with my own eyes how far away the church actually is. It’s not right next to ground zero as I had presumed based on some pictures I had seen. I also saw the uprooted sycamore tree. It appears that it took a direct hit and help to protect the church from flying debris, but I don’t think it’s the sycamore tree of Isaiah. That’s a real prophetic stretch in my mind, but that’s another discussion—how biblical prophecy pundits like to add two and two and get five, and then write books and make videos and get rich and famous off the deal. I’m very skeptical of them and the gullibility of those who follow them who are biblically naive or illiterate , but, again, that’s another discussion.
Amazing..! referring to Carols comment…!( Nehemia Gordon )
..what devastation these fires brought..absolutely horrific..charred bodies found etc… cars burnt out & so many homes destroyed. So much written in news reports re these current fires..the fires in Paradise…one of the areas…even celebrities homes destroyed & they had to flee.
The conditions re these fires ….so many have been burning for nearly 1 year…. most unusual circumstances…even the way the fires have burned…
My constant prayer is that many will look up out of the ashes, floods, storms or whatever they’re going through and turn to Elohim. In the mean time, may he protect and watch over his people. It could be you or me! May YHVH help us to learn what we can from life’s hard lessons, and may they bring us closer to him, as we realize that this life is merely a passage to something better and higher—a time and place of preparation for our true destiny and spiritual calling. Amein!