Crisis Response staff and teams have been working with Miss Louise* for more than a year now, helping to rebuild her home after the Paradise Fire destroyed it in 2018. She confided in one of the volunteers that she does not believe in God, but has always been very grateful for our help and she would even come to the church during the week for community dinners. Recently, we have seen her start to open up to more spiritual conversations and she has even started to visit Paradise EFC.

One day while we were working on her house, she asked to share a prayer request. Miss Louise told our staff about Miss Joyce*, a lady up the street who had lost her husband in the fire. Miss Joyce needed some help to clear her yard of debris. Our staff agreed to go visit Miss Joyce, but asked Miss Louise if she would come with us. Our staff baked some bread, invited Miss Kathy from the church to join, and three ladies went to visit with Miss Joyce and hear her story. They were surprised to realize when they got there that Miss Kathy, Miss Louise and Miss Joyce all worked together back in the 80's!

The three ladies had so much fun catching up and encouraging each other. In fact, Miss Louise even invited Miss Joyce to come with her the following Sunday to church at Paradise EFC. Both ladies were in church together that weekend. Since then Miss Joyce has joined a women's bible study and we have been able to send teams to work on her property. Crisis Response teams also continue to serve at Miss Louise's house, and God is helping her connect the dots and find hope in the Gospel.

Please join us in praying for God to continue to move in the lives of these ladies. If you or your church would like to serve in Paradise and bless people like Miss Louise and Miss Joyce, we would love to see you in the fall or winter. Email respond@efca.org for more info on how to reserve a week.

*Names changed for privacy.