LOS ANGELES, Calif. (MODR) – Following any disaster, it’s only natural that the survivors want to recover anything that hasn’t been destroyed. It doesn’t matter whether they’ve experienced a flood, tornado or hurricane. The natural response is to locate any belongings that may have survived. Unfortunately, the situation is usually much worse following a widespread fire like those that occurred in Hawaii in August 2023 and more recently in southern California. When the entire house burns to the ground, victims feel lucky and encouraged if anything is found.
That’s one of the reasons Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief (MODR) has responded by sending several teams to California … not to clean up ash and debris, but to sift through the ashes looking for anything that will bring help, hope and healing to the survivors. Leading the first team, which included five volunteers from Missouri, was Chris Houghtaling, from First Baptist Church of Blue Springs.
MODR photo
“We spent the first week working in Pacific Palisades,” said Houghtaling, who spent two weeks in the area. “The second week, we were in Altadena, California. After the first week, most of the Missouri team went home and David Eikenbary, with Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, came out for two weeks. Assisting during his first week was a team of five volunteers from New Mexico, followed by four people from Missouri his second week.”
According to Gaylon Moss, MODR Director, additional teams are due to travel to California through at least the end of March. In the meantime, MODR teams have been privileged to work alongside other DR teams from throughout the country, including California, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
Houghtaling admits that due to the extreme heat generated by the fires, they aren’t always successful in finding anything of value. However, there have been enough success stories to make it all worth the effort.
“In one case, we were working with a woman named Kristine and her daughter,” she related. “We felt fortunate to find a cup, which appropriately said, ‘Yes We Can’. Even more amazing, we found a couple pages from her Bible that were partially burned, yet you could read part of Psalm 31 where it said, ‘In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge: let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.’”
Another page was from Psalm 28, in which verse one starts, “To you I call, O Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me.” Verse two on that page is even more appropriate, where it reads, “Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.” As a believer, Kristine is already thinking about having those two precious pages framed.
Naturally, all volunteers and homeowners had to wear full personal protective equipment as they began the tedious process of sifting through ash and looking for jewelry and other small items. Yet, their efforts paid off more than once. In one instance, a DR team from Colorado found a wedding ring that was in pristine condition. Fortunately, it had been left in a coat pocket, which helped protect it from the heat.
“In another case, we found some dishes and a figurine that had been passed down from the victim’s grandmother,” Houghtaling added. “Part of a marble collection was also found.”
Houghtaling and Eikenbary explained that the first thing they do when meeting with a victim is to ask them what they are hoping to find and in what part of the house the items were located. The challenge, though, is figuring out where that might be among the rubble. Sometimes found items are not even close to where the owners thought they would be.
“We have to look for clues that may help us as we search,” Houghtaling explained. “If they had jewelry in an upstairs bedroom or had something of sentimental value setting on a shelf, they may be located several feet away,” “As the fire burned through a wall or floor, that shelf or dresser may have tipped or slid, throwing the contents much further away than expected.”
One of the team’s saddest situations, though, involved a firefighter who was fighting a fire in Pacific Palisades when his wife called to say their house was on fire.
“He was not only a career fireman, but a former aviation firefighter in the Marines,” Houghtaling related, noting that the couple ultimately lost the house. “We did find some of his Fireman’s challenge coins, which were very, very special to him. Each coin is a small medallion that symbolizes a person’s membership in a group, achievement or affiliation and are often given to recognize special service or events. So, they meant a lot to him.
“However, while helping him sift through the ashes, he made the comment that he has spent his entire life helping other people, and now he was the one who needed help, which is a very difficult position to be in for a first responder … one he is struggling with very much.”
Both Houghtaling and Eikenbary noted, however, that even if the teams couldn’t find much of value, the victims always seemed comforted and encouraged that someone cared enough to help and to show the love of God. It gave them a sense of hope to move forward. There efforts have also been a witness to everyone they’ve worked with, whether they are a believer or not.
One individual, in fact, commented, “When this all happened, I was angry at God. But then I see people like you, that I don’t know, who have come to help us. That’s where the hope is coming from, and we know that God is working,” he concluded. “There is a God out there working through people like you to help people like us.”
If you would like to give to support the work of Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief, please go to modr.org/give or make a check out to MODR and mail to MODR, 400 East High Street.