To Leaders in the Presbytery of the Pacific:
At this moment the entire city of Malibu has been evacuated, which is located in the Presbytery of the Pacific. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, PCUSA’s disaster relief agency, has been alerted and will be working with us as the details unfold.
In the meantime, here is what you can do:
1. Pray. Pray for the people evacuated from their homes, firefighters and emergency personnel who are the first responders. Our first responders are the only ones appropriate to be directly responding at this point. Our prayers sustain them as they do their lifesaving and dangerous work.
2. Give. PDA will be resourcing and supporting our presbytery as well as in Northern California as details unfold in the Chico area. PDA has been a great support to the Presbytery of Santa Barbara in the aftermath of the fires and mudslides last year. I would encourage you and your congregation to consider collecting a special offering to PDA to support its national disaster response work:
https://pda.pcusa.org/situations/national/
We pray for God’s created earth as it undergoes tumultuous climate change, and for our ability to address root causes and make the changes needed to address it.
Grace and Peace be with you.
Rev. Heidi Worthen Gamble, Mission Catalyst