VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 11/4/19)—American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS), on behalf of American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA), has released $10,000 in One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) Disaster-relief Funds to CrossWalk Community Church, Napa, Calif.
CrossWalk—which has been a Red Cross evacuation site for many years—has been providing shelter since Oct. 27 for those evacuated from their homes because of the Kincade wildfire that began Oct. 23 in Sonoma County wine country.
According to news reports, the fire has burned 77,758 acres of both state and private land. The fire has destroyed 352 structures, including at least 94 homes. Another 55 structures have been damaged. Four confirmed injuries are of fire personnel and civilians.
“CrossWalk Community Church exists to help people continually discover and develop a life changing, world impacting relationship with God as modeled by Jesus Christ,” writes CrossWalk pastor the Rev. Dr. Peter R. Shaw in a report to ABHMS. “As described in CrossWalk’s belief statement, this ongoing, daily choice leads us to a life where we learn to stretch our understanding of God, kneel in service to other, grace people with the presence of God, walk with people as an expression of incarnation, connect with God intentionally through a variety of practices, and participate in the resurrection now and in the future as we seek to restore life where death has loomed.”
CrossWalk was recently visited by Dr. Jeffrey Haggray, ABHMS executive director, and the Rev. Lauren L. Ng, ABHMS lead strategist, West Coast, National Mission Engagement, and director of Leadership Empowerment.
ABHMS has also been in touch with the Rev. Andy Quient, executive minister of American Baptist Churches of Los Angeles, Southwest and Hawaii, who expressed no needs for assistance at the time.
One Great Hour of Sharing is administered by the World Relief Committee of the Board of General Ministries of American Baptist Churches USA. The committee facilitates American Baptist emergency relief, disaster rehabilitation, refugee work and development assistance by establishing policy guidelines and overseeing distribution of the annual One Great Hour of Sharing offering received by churches.
How you can help
Join ABHMS in praying for survivors, many of whom were forced to flee their homes with little else than the clothes on their backs. Many have no homes to which to return and have lost all their belongings. Pray also for first responders.
American Baptist Home Mission Societies partners with American Baptists to promote Christian faith, cultivate Christ-centered leaders and disciples, and bring healing and transformation to communities across the United States and Puerto Rico.
American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with approximately 5,000 congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.