Cleanup Efforts Reap Beauty from Ashes
On November 4, Melvin Nelson visited the home where he lived for more than 40 years. As Disaster Relief volunteers cleared away piles of charred debris, Nelson laughed with them and with neighbors who came to observe the cleanup process. At first glance, he seemed too upbeat to have lost his home in the wildfires that raged in Southern California. But between conversations, Nelson kept walking to the same spot on the edge of his property; under one of the few trees that survived the fires, where volunteers added to a pile of keepsakes rescued from the rubble—a collection of coins, small souvenirs and tools, jewelry, an old baseball.
“They just seem to mean so much to people, the things that we’re able to find and save,” said Peggy Williams, a Disaster Relief blue cap from Banning, Ca, who has participated in several previous fire cleanup efforts.
Nelson’s home stood on the La Jolla Indian Reservation, where at least 40 homes were lost during the fires. It was also the first location opened up to Southern Baptist volunteers, said Don Hargis, who directs Disaster Relief in California. When local officials called Hargis to ask for cleanup help, he responded by mobilizing a team of more than 500 volunteers for Saturday, November 3. But a high wind warning postponed the effort until a smaller team was able to gather at the reservation on Monday. Disaster Relief volunteers from California and Oklahoma, along with Samaritan’s Purse volunteers from Florida, began cleanup on several homes in the area where the fire began on the reservation.
Volunteers later moved on to the Rincon Reservation, where fire had destroyed 60 structures. Again, they patiently removed rubble to uncover treasures, and built relationships with residents who came to watch them work.
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After two weeks, seven people on the reservations had come to know Jesus in a personal way, simply because someone took time to respond to seize a divine moment in San Diego.
It’s a moment open to every believer and every church in San Diego, says Dwight Simpson, Director of Missions for the San Diego Southern Baptist Association.
“I think churches have realized that we have an opportunity to extend the hand of God into the community through gestures of love, and that through this, we can earn the right to share the most important thing God has to give: a relationships with Him through Jesus Christ.”
Working with churches to seize those opportunities is one of the goals of Vision San Diego, says Mike Carlisle, who serves as the ministry’s executive director. Working in partnership with the local association, state convention, and other national partners, Vision San Diego seeks to facilitate church starting, strengthen existing churches, and mobilize thousands of volunteers to serve in San Diego. But most importantly, Carlisle says, Vision San Diego is about seizing the divine moments God provides as He transforms lives and cities.
“We’re so thankful that God has positioned us to stand with the churches that are reaching out to the fire victims and their families. The future impact remains to be seen, but clearly, it’s an open door. We pray that it will increase our capacity to touch people’s lives with the love of Christ.”
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