My good friend and former student Kristie Vosper is director of children’s ministries at Malibu Presbyterian Church. As many of you will know, her church burned to the ground yesterday morning, caught up in one of the many firestorms affecting Southern California.
Kristie blogs too, and she has a moving post up this morning about the loss of the church and the goodness of God in the presence of ashes. Kristie lost a great many precious possessions stored in her office; her guitars, however (she’s a formidable amateur musician) were rescued.
I’m praying for the Malibu Pres community this morning, and for all those — both human and animal — whose lives have been impacted by these fires. But as a sixth-generation Californian, I know that when you build in the canyons, sooner or later, you risk losing everything. Usually, it should be noted, in October.
I used to be a member of a church that was repeatedly attacked by arsonists. It was sad and senseless, but I think it made us feel feisty. This kind of a fire would be much harder to take. Perhaps God can use this destruction to show the surrounding community that faith is not about a building and it hard to destroy. Vosper’s faith is inspiring!