Three Fires in Three Days

(The full article follows the photos below.)

Members from the Nazarene church trying to put out the first fire which was behind their property and moving towards the mission Work & Witness property and the Fischer's home.

One photo of the fire as it was moving behind the Work & Witness center.

A picture after all three fires which shows how close the fires came to our property.

The roofs in this photo are the Hall's garage and house. Again, you can see how close the fire came!

Throughout all three fires, Landon often served as a sentry to help us know which way the fire was moving or how close it was. Although he's posing a bit silly here, he took this responsibility very seriously, and was a big help.

On Sunday, 9/13, at around 1:00 p.m., we received an urgent telephone call alerting us to the fact that a fire was raging in the forest that backs up to the Work & Witness property (which is where we live). Stan, Mary and Landon began watering as soon as we heard the news, while Sherri began loading her car with a few valuables such as our passports, computers, baby pictures, etc. We also gathered the gas tanks around the property and relocated them to a safer place.

The fire was coming down the hill that leads to our property, and many people were helping put the fire out behind the Nazarene church that sits next to our property. (See photo 1). Soon after, we were joined by the Howard family and Dwight Rich. Sherri also began taking off all the curtains in our house and began taping the insides of our windows to prevent smoke from getting through the windows. Although the Fischer family was away with a team, we were most concerned about their home because the fire seemed headed in that direction. Also, they have two huge trees that are very close to their home. We just continually doused the area with water. After about three hours, the firemen arrived and stopped the fire. We knew, however, that because it was so very dry, another fire could start at any time.

Sure enough, the next evening, the winds picked up and the fire began where it had ended on Sunday. Stan estimates that at one point the fire was 40 feet wide and 100 feet tall as it marched towards us. Again, we started dousing our property, focusing on the Hall’s backyard since this was where the fire was headed. (See photo 2.) This time, however, everything was over within an hour because the firemen got to the fire very quickly and the winds died down suddenly. We were thankful for God’s protection yet again, but knew that the conditions were perfect for yet another fire.

The third fire came on Tuesday around 1:30 p.m. Sherri and Landon were the only ones at home, and they heard someone whistling very loudly outside of their home. When they went to check, the guard from the neighborhood across the ravine was signaling yet another fire. Sherri couldn’t believe her eyes because this one was already very intense and it was closer to their home than the other two had been. She and Landon flew into action even though it was only the two of them. She called for backup, though, and within 20 minutes a team of men was there to help. Photos 3 and 4 show how close it came to the back of the mission property. (These are taken afterwards. The roofs in the foreground are to our house and garage.) Thankfully, God’s protection continued to cover us, and the firemen were able to put out the fire before it actually reached our property (though it was really, really close). Then that evening God sent rain and we were thankful to the point of tears. (There is a rumor that Sherri did a “thank you God for the rain” happy dance, but she’s not confirming it.) It has rained everyday in the following days, and we are thankful for God’s tender mercies to our family during this time.

We are so very proud of how hard our children fought the fires with us. They both immediately manned the hoses and wouldn’t give up, even after several hours on the first day. Landon also served as our sentry as he’d climb up on the roof and give us updates on the path of the fire. (Photo 5.) We are also thankful for our Nazarene family that just dropped what they were doing and rushed to help us. This included both Latinos and North Americans. There were no barriers—everyone did what they could to save the property.

Stan speaks at 10th Anniversary

On Sunday, 8/30, Stan preached at the 10th anniversary service of the Spanish-speaking Otavalo church. (All of the other churches in this area are Quechuan indigenous churches.)

Pastora Marcela shared a moving testimony about the current church's location. About 11 years ago when the property was purchased, many people in the town could not understand why that particular location was chosen because it was not in the center of the town, but rather in the unpopulated outskirts. But God knew! Over the years the town has grown and now the church is centrally located with five neighborhoods located around it. The Pastora praised God for His foresight and direction. She also expressed thanks to the two Work & Witness teams, made up of team members from Texas, Arizona and Kansas, that built the church ten years ago.

An elderly man, who is also a founding member, played two special songs on his harp. (See photo 1.) During the sermon, Stan challenged the church to go into its next ten years as a church of faith. He then led the altar call in which the entire church responded. Many said afterwards that God has spoken to them through the sermon and knew God would meet their needs. (See photo 2.) It was a great day of celebration, and we were excited to be a part of it. A photo of Pastor Marcela, her husband, Oscar, and their two boys are pictured in photo 3.

The congregation enjoyed a cake reception after the service.