Oak Creek Village Fire Response

Oak Creek Village Fire Response
Sixteen apartments were affected; eight were completely destroyed and nothing is salvageable and eight have significant smoke damage. I met with the apartment manager this morning and most of the families affected did not have renters insurance and will have to completely start over. Praise God that no one was hurt or killed – only a dog perished on the fire. Please pray for these families!
The families are being relocated to different apartments in the Oak Creek complex, but are in need of EVERYTHING.
The Gathering Church has partnered with All Saints Church and others in the past through programs like Eagle’s Nest, and recently with World Relief as a Good Neighbor team for the William Family (refugees from Burma).  This fire left the William family unharmed but affected five Creekside families all of which have been a part of Eagle’s Nest.
This is a wonderful opportunity for us to respond and love these families well with the love of Christ.
Taking Thomas Kortus’ lead (the Associate Rector at All Saints) here is how we plan to respond:
  1. Pray for those affected and pray for the Oak Creek Village community
  2. Gathering clothes, furniture, household goods, car seats, kids gear, nonperishable food, anything needed to set up a new home!
  3. Collecting money to distribute to the 16 families significantly affected by the fire.
The church has some money earmarked for just such occurrences as these and will distribute funds for it.  If you’d like to give beyond that you may either bring gift cards for groceries or household items or write a check to All Saints Church with OCV in the memo line.
 
If you have any furniture or household items (things that weren’t collected last month for the William family) bring them to church this Sunday (2/24).  If you can’t bring your supplies this Sunday you can drop stuff at All Saints’ office throughout the week.
 
We’ll plan on bringing these items over to All Saints’ office (on Garrett Rd) immediately following the service.  If you have a truck and can bring a load or two over, that would be immensely helpful.
 
We thank our Heavenly Father that no one was seriously hurt, and pray for security in a time of vulnerability and provision in a time of desperation.  We ask for wisdom and generosity in distributing these gifts from God to our brothers and sisters who need them.  We thank God for his nearness and care even and especially in the midst of grief.  During this Lenten time, God’s Spirit gives us the hope that new life and resurrection comes out of ashes and destruction.