Wildfires: San Diego Church Update

Dear Friends of Providence,

I wanted to pass along to you an update on our sister church in San Diego regarding all of the fires from this last week. Please lift them up in prayer during this time. -Matthew

***
In the aftermath of this week's wildfires, Mark Lauterbach, senior pastor of Grace Church in San Diego, reports that about 40% of church members were evacuated from their homes, but all are safe. Many have been staying with others from their church whose homes were in safer areas. At least ten homes of Grace Church members were in "high risk" areas. The status of two of these is unconfirmed, but eight are confirmed virtually untouched by the fire. (In one case, the fire stopped within ten inches of the house.) No damage is reported to the facility the church has been preparing to move into next month. Mark says, "We do not feel alone at all." Regional Sovereign Grace churches including Sovereign Grace Church (Pasadena) and Comunidad Cristiana de Otay (Tijuana, Mexico) have been quick to offer assistance. Steve Shank has been in touch with the church daily. Mark jokes, "Steve knows more about what's going on than I do." Grace Church is deeply grateful to the Sovereign Grace family of churches for their love, affection, and desire to help. This Sunday, members of Grace Church will meet together in their small groups since the high school building where they are currently meeting is closed. There are still many prayer requests from Grace Church:

• Pray for church leaders: wisdom to care for members who are scattered geographically and discernment for many upcoming decisions


• Pray for Grace Church: grace to guard against temptations to fear and anxiety


• Pray for opportunities to serve the community and to have gospel conversations


• Pray for the new church facility: that its final inspection will be completed by next week

Check Mark's blog, GospelDrivenLife, and Grace Church's website for more information.