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PRACTICAL WAYS TO "LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR"

Hundreds of you filled out our Fire Relief volunteer application.  Your response to our community’s needs has truly blessed our church and surrounding neighbors.  So far, 285 people have worked on 44 homes in Rancho Bernardo and surrounding areas to help sift through and clean away debris.  Others are working in Ramona, another hard hit area.  THANK YOU for your willingness to serve, for your time, your hard work, and for representing the Lord with the love you have put into action in our community!

Much of the work is now being done through the city of San Diego’s programs, but we are still committed to long-term ministry for fire victims. We are still assigning volunteers to work crews. If you want to be involved, call our Volunteer Hotline at 858-217-4862.

Even if you can’t work out in the field, or if you didn’t sign up for our initial volunteer drive, there are many things that we, as a church body, and as individuals can do over the long haul to minister to fire victims.  Below are a few suggestions, but don’t hesitate to add your own ideas to the list!

Practical Ways to Love Your Neighbors
— especially those who happen to be fire victims

1. Let them talk, while you listen. Ask, “How are you holding up?” Accept their reactions, which may include anger, denial, frustration, numbness, joking, sadness, and tears. Give a hug and say, “I’m sorry.” Avoid talking about yourself and your experiences. Sometimes people just need to talk while someone else listens!

2. Help with practical, basic needs. It’s been almost a month and some people are just beginning to address their property issues.  They couldn’t ask for help before because they were either too devastated to think or they simply didn’t know what they needed until now.  Help with clothes, run errands, provide childcare, kitchen supplies, tools, meals. Offer to do the little things that are not difficult yet still overwhelming for the victims, like:  making phone calls, taking their kids to the dentist, taking home a few loads of laundry, calling and checking on contractors, to make sure they are legitimate. Help victims avoid getting scammed! Sometimes just your company over a cup of coffee or meal together provides important emotional support.

3. Adopt a family in need: gather a group of your friends, and make it your job to get that family back on its feet.  Assign someone to lead who’s good at delegation and then collect clothes, food, donated furniture, tools, and some basic supplies, until the family has a life back. Anonymously drop off meals, toiletries, supplies, a cashier’s check.  You can’t fix everything, or provide a perfect life, but we can at least help give people the means to rebuild.

   They may need to find storage for things until they find a new home.  Or, how about giving them a night out to forget about their situation for a while?  Dinner, movie, tickets, and babysitting will help! Set up a system to make sure their laundry is getting done regularly. Cook dinners, help with grocery shopping, offer to help with their kids’ homework. Your love and kindness may be all they need to face tomorrow.

   Pay attention and watch for what they need.  Put yourself in their place and think about what would help you the most. Remember, they may so overwhelmed with paper work, and trying to figure out what to do next that they may not realize what they need.

4. Paperwork: Find a family or elderly person who needs help working with their insurance company, making phone calls, making a list of things they are missing, reading contracts they don’t understand, etc.—especially if you are knowledgeable in this area or have been through it before! You can do some of this at a convenient time like evenings, lunch hours, or weekends.  Remember some of the elderly have never even used a computer and now they are being asked to “register online.” 

5. Tell them you are praying for them, and then consistently do it!  Better yet, pray with them, ask for God’s comfort and strength as they rebuild their lives. Keep in touch and ask them for specific prayer requests, and let them know your prayers are ongoing.

Small acts of kindness can go a long way in helping someone whose life has been thrown into turmoil.  Thank you again for your many acts of kindness and service!

“Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” —Galatians 6:9