Update on 2014 Pateros Fire Relief Effort

2014 Pateros Fire Relief Effort

 Thank you all you volunteers!  Leon Jameson, from King’s Orchard, has taken over the coordination of volunteers from the King’s Orchard church to serve at Pateros during the continuing disaster relief effort.  Please offer your volunteer services to Leon at church or call him at (360)460-9426 or e-mail: leonjameson@yahoo.com.   

21 August, 2014

It’s been one month since the Carlton Complex wildfire swept through Pateros. Volunteers fought the fire and volunteers have responded in the recovery from the fire. Fire, in and of itself, is neither a good thing nor a bad thing, it’s how people respond that’s important.

The night of the fire, July 17, I got a phone call from Dale Linge saying he had called the folks at Disaster Relief and that they would have a truck on the road within 24 hours. I was elated that help was on the way but concerned that we would be facing an overwhelming task, for which we were ill prepared. My fears were unfounded. The truck arrived on schedule, the fork lift was there and church and community members swarmed the trailer to start unloading. It was a humbling experience.

Since that Tuesday, when the truck arrived, we have dispersed all the contents of that truck, all of the following truckload of water and more. Over and over again, we have heard heart-felt thanks from victims, prayed with the distressed and comforted those who lost everything in their homes. The outreach crossed community lines and reached over 150 families and nearly 400 people.

We are still helping people restart their lives.

Words cannot express the gratitude we have for the team at Disaster Relief, for the churches across the state and for the good people of our communities. We believe that God is good, all the time and that God is able, Amen. We have witnessed the best of hearts and minds transformed by the challenges of our moment.

We are eternally grateful and humbled to have been a part of a transformative event, one that will shape our future and that of our community.

We praise and thank all who have contributed to this effort and we praise God for his never-ending grace.

Pateros and the church of Christ,

Jeff Walter