Northwest Baptist churches continue responding to needs as wildfires continue

SPOKANE (BP) – Churches and Disaster Relief personnel persist in ministry efforts in the Northwest Baptist Convention as several wildfires continue burning throughout the region.

As of Tuesday, the National Interagency Fire Center reported 34 uncontained large fires in the Northwest – two starting within the previous 24 hours – to become the nation’s most fire-active among nine geographic areas. Homes, communities and critical infrastructure remain under threat, the agency added.

No casualties have been reported yet from a fire in the Spokane area. Nevertheless, it has charred more than 10,500 acres, placing some 65,000 residents under evacuation notice while claiming approximately 850 buildings. The area is still recovering from a fire three years ago that took 366 homes and more than 700 structures. A 21-year-old man who originally reported the fires has since been arrested as the suspected arsonist.

“People have lost their homes, so we’re helping with the ash-out,” Inland Empire Baptist Association Director of Missions Dale Jenkins told Baptist Press. “We’re asking that people pray for us and to direct our attention where we can do the most good. We put a big focus on the gospel, using the 3 Circles as our main way of presenting it.”

Church members have joined others at a local park that has become a central hub for information, pointing them in the right direction for gaining assistance or helping with paperwork.

“Every time we’ve started praying for a particular need, God has answered,” he said. “It’s wonderful to see what God is doing through the churches and community.”

In central Washington, Northwest Baptist Convention Evangelism Specialist Zach Minton led an M1 mission trip to the mountain town of Leavenworth last weekend.

In its third year, M1 is a community outreach event sponsored by the state convention and free to local churches as well as congregations from outside the area that want to be involved in missions. Work in Leavenworth included physical restoration, long-term church support, and service projects.

Leavenworth isn’t located in an immediate fire danger area. However, smoke has been devastating to summer tourism for the Bavarian-style village in the Cascades.

“They make most of their money from tourists,” said Minton. “But we had more than 20 churches come together to serve that community.”

Leavenworth was already the selected site for M1 before the fires began. It so happens that next year’s M1 will be in Spokane.

“We have a desire for churches to serve on mission outside of their local context,” said Minton, himself a lead pastor for more than 17 years before joining the state convention. “I know the tension of doing outreach in your city and the normal week-to-week stuff.”

Weather forecasts don’t provide an easier path for recovery, as temperatures are expected to reach into the upper 80s and mid-90s through the end of the week. Meanwhile, relative humidity will remain in the 20 percent range. Towns like Leavenworth will also continue dealing with valley smoke inversions, where a layer of warm air settles directly over a colder, denser layer, trapping it in a lower basin.

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This article appeared in Baptist Press.